


Text Back

by Defelala



Series: Text Back [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Death, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Angst, I Made Myself Cry, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Pain, Panic Attacks, Relationship(s), Romantic Fluff, Tags Are Hard, The Author Regrets Nothing, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 23,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Defelala/pseuds/Defelala
Summary: Dream has feelings for George, and he accidentally confesses whilst recording a video.sapnap approved (yes he read this and gave me feedback no i will not explain)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Text Back [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064366
Comments: 16
Kudos: 83





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> inspo song:  
> cliché by mxmtoon
> 
> sorry if this is formatted weird i came from wattpad because they lowkey scare me :']
> 
> also sorry for the prologue being short the rest of the chapters are all around 800-1k words (which is still short but the best i could do)

Clay sat down at his desk, and spun around in his chair. It was a little rickety but he had had it for forever. It's not like it's going to suddenly collapse or anything; it could hold his weight just fine. He leaned back just to prove his point, reaching down to run a hand over the cool metal supporting the legs.

Clay moved over to his tower and turned on his pc, watching as the monitors flickered to life, in sync with the RGB decals on his tower. He was greeted with a login screen, a name different than his own hovering above the password slot.

Dream logged in, and began setting up his recording software. He ran a quick safety check in the background as he opened minecraft. You could never be too safe! Switching back to his recording software, Dream hit the start button, and tested to make sure his mic was working.

Just as Dream came to the conclusion that it was, the virus check stopped. Everything was a-okay. A little animation of a car drove off screen in the corner, showing the program closing. Dream smiled, and moved all of the recording stuff into his other monitor, out of his way.

He stared for a few minutes at his desktop wallpaper, sighing happily. 

The 20 year old clicked on Discord, and waited for it to load with a faint blush on his face. His heart skipped a beat as it loaded onto his favorite person, who was also his most recently talked to. He hit the call button, knowing he was a couple minutes early. He waited for his friend to join the call, humming some tune he had heard on tiktok happily to himself. 

About 15 of those annoying ringtone things later, and his friend finally joined.

"Hey Dream!"

"Hi George!"

"You ready to lose?"

"Nah, you know I always win."

"Not always! Last time I beat you!"

Dream laughed. 

"That's one time out of how many?"

"Oh, just run the command."

Today was going to be a good day. 


	2. just a joke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> airplane mode by limbo
> 
> i hope u guys enjoy, cuz it only gets worse from here ;)

Dream glanced at his second monitor, checking the recording time. He and George had been playing for 2 hours, doing one of their fan-favorite challenges; Minecraft Manhunt. As per usual, George was the predator and Dream was the prey. Currently, all Dream had to do was find the Stronghold and beat the Ender Dragon. The hard part was over. Dream could already hear George's screams when he lost.

"Oh Dream~" George giggled, and Dream's heart dropped. He flipped through the camera angles, checking behind him. Not too far away, Dream saw George's character jumping through the plains biome.

"What?! How did you find me this early?" Dream gasped, sprinting to get away from his friend. 

"The compass," George laughed, getting closer and closer to Dream. Dream mumbled under his breath, continuing to glance behind him. He looked around, and saw the ocean was close. He grinned, sprinting towards it. Dream moved something into his hotbar, letting out a small laugh.

"Hey George."

"What is it Dream~?"

"Do you have a boat?"

"NO!" George screeched as Dream sped away on his oak boat.

Dream chuckled. He leaned away from his computer, pumping his fist in the air. He kept one hand on his keyboard so he could move forward. He used an Eye of Ender, slowing down to watch it fly. Dream could hear George fall silent, and knew something was up.

"George?" Dream's voice was loud in the quiet, and he leaned back into his computer.

No response. Dream's heartbeat sped up again, and adrenaline filled his veins.

"George, what are you doing?"

Dream giggled from fear. He collected his eye and kept going.

"Nothing you need to worry about my dear Dream," George said, his cheap mic crackling. George's words made Dream's face heat up and he stuttered.

"G-George, where are you? Just tell me!" Dream started to panic, and checked behind him. George was nowhere to be seen.

Dream gave up, continuing to try and find the Stronghold. After a minute or two, the chat popped up with a notification.

George had found the Stronghold first.

"That's what you were doing?!" Dream gasped, going even faster. George laughed, squealing with delight and victory.

"I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win!" George screeched slightly, causing Dream to wince from the auditory attack in his headphones. 

"George, that's not fair! Don't move!" Dream whined, going even faster. After two more eyes, George taunting him, and Dream whining some more, he hit land. He could see a village in the direction that he was headed, and sprint-jumped towards it. He was determined, a grin on his face. Even if he did lose, it was nice to play a game with the person he admired. George had always stood out to him, from his prepubescent voice to his insane coding skills. He was Dream's favorite person to talk to. He had had this urge to dissect George's personality like he dissected Minecraft's code ever since they first played together. However, right now was not the time to fawn over his best friend.

Right now, Dream had to win. 

Fortunately, George had yet to find the portal. Dream arrived and looked around. He saw the edge of the stronghold peeking from inside of a cave and smirked.

"Oh George~"

The chat updated.

The game was on.

"What? How did you find it so fast?!" George cried out, clearly lost. As soon as Dream entered the next room, he could tell why.

Two ravines intersected right where the Stronghold was, causing it to be broken up and ten times more dangerous. Dream crouched, placing blocks to make a bridge across one of the ravines towards another part of the Stronghold. He paused, looking down. There was some water at the bottom, but it was mostly dirt and stone. No lava in sight, so that was good at least. He saw the tempting sparkle of turquoise diamonds at the bottom, but knew that he needed to move on.

"Dream~ I'm gonna find it first~" George said in a sing-song voice, and Dream huffed. He sprinted through the Stronghold, opening doors left and right. He nearly fell into a pit, but saved himself at the last second.

"Yeah, sure," he responded, sarcasm dripping off his words.

Dream was about to give up hope when he saw it-- George's name was floating in the next room over. He crouched, falling silent as he inched closer. 

"Dream? Why did you go quiet?" George asked, and Dream grinned. He opened the door and started attacking, listening to George's screams.

"No! No! I'm low, I'm so low- Dream stop!" George pleaded, but Dream kept slashing at him. The prey laughed maniacally as the tables turned and the hunter became the hunted. Dream grinned, chasing George into another room. His friend placed down blocks in a desperate attempt to stop him. Dream broke through, and cornered a screeching George as he was eating. He hit him once more.

"Dream please! I've got half a heart!" He cried, his voice somehow rising even higher.

In the heat of the moment, something slipped out of Dream's mind and into his mouth. Something that shouldn't have been said, something that Dream never wanted George to find out-

"Fine, but only because I love you," Dream said, his heart leaking through his words and exposing his true feelings. 

Dream stopped attacking him, and ran off, trying to find the portal. He hummed, opening doors. After a few seconds, Dream realized that George wasn't squealing. Or chasing after him. Or screaming. Or doing any of the George-y things that he normally did. 

Dream stopped, his heart dropping as his mind finally realized what he had just done.

"George, I-"

George disconnected the call, and logged off of the Minecraft server.

Dream froze. He could feel his face begin to burn with shame and embarrassment. Dream slammed his fist down onto his desk, crying out. He buried his face in his hands, his vision going blurry. A tear crawled down his cheek. The sound of his character getting attacked by a spider corresponded with Dream's heart cracking open. He tried to calm down, but his breath seemed to hitch every other second. Dream sniffled, pointlessly wiping his eyes.

In just a minute, Dream went from enjoying a game with his crush to seeing his world come crashing down around him. He stopped the recording, deleting it. Dream wiped his eyes with his hoodie sleeve again, and closed out of the game. He moved over to discord, and tried to call George back. His profile said that he was offline, but Dream hoped that he would pick up anyway. He waited a few moments, before hanging up. Dream began texting him.

dreamwastaken:  
George, it was just a joke  
Come on, just answer me  
Please George, it was a joke I swear

dreamwastaken:  
George, please  
George I'm sorry just please answer me  
please  
text back

He didn't reply. Dream felt the lump in his throat swell. His fingers paused over the keys, and he tried to think of what to do. He got up from his desk, and started pacing.

George is probably disgusted by him, why wouldn't he be?  
The last time this happened, Dream had to move schools because he couldn't handle the teasing and homophobic comments made towards him. He couldn't go through that again, he couldn't lose his best friend like this-

Dream picked up his phone from his desk and unplugged it. He unlocked it, feeling a whimper rise from his throat at the sight of his wallpaper. It was a selfie of him, Sap, and George all together at a convention. It usually brought a smile to his face remembering that weekend, but now all it did was made the sinking feeling in his stomach grow. He opened his phone app, and tapped on George's name. He hit the call button and put the phone to his ear.

"Please pick up, please," Dream started pacing again. He hugged himself with his free arm, trying to give himself at least some comfort. The phone rang and rang, and eventually it clicked.

Dream felt the sliver of hope get crushed as George's voicemail message started playing. 

"Hello! I can't call right now, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can," George sounded so happy in his message. Dream could only imagine what he was feeling now. His message beeped, and Dream opened his mouth to speak.

"George, I'm so so sorry, I don't know why I said that," Dream's voice died down, "Please just talk to me," he spoke in a shaky whisper, knowing that it was obvious that he had been crying. 

Dream tried over and over again to reach George, each attempt ending in failure. He eventually gave up, the dread and guilt fading into numbness. Dream left his phone on his desk, and crawled into bed. He didn't even want to think about what tomorrow would be like. Dream was just tired. 

The 20 year old didn't bother to turn off his light, and pulled a pillow close to his chest. He knew that this shouldn't have bothered him so much, but it was hard to not cry when you confess to someone you've been hiding your feelings from for 3 years. Dream stared at his wall, and the pink, purple, and blue flag he had hanging on it. He hadn't come out to any of his online friends, and he thought he never would. He was too scared of what they'd think of him. What if they left him behind? Talked about him online? All of his hard work would be for nothing. Dream closed his eyes, and sighed.

He went to sleep, hoping that in the morning he would wake up and everything would be back to normal.


	3. ring ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> it's alright by mother mother

Dream blinked heavily, rolling over in his bed. He got comfy, curling around one of his stuffed animals. Everything was calm, happy, and safe. Somewhere a familiar tune was playing, and Dream started humming along to it. As he woke up more, he realized where the music was coming from; His phone vibrated on his desk, the ringtone he set for Sap playing. Dream rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He reached over and grabbed it, swiping to answer.

"Sap? What time is it?" Dream yawned again, holding the phone to his ear.

"Clay, we need to talk," Dream's heart sank. He was fully awake now. Dream looked down and saw that he was still in the same clothes he wore yesterday. He moved the plushie off of his lap and stood up.

A few seconds of silence rung out before Dream mustered up enough courage to speak.

"Does he hate me?" Dream forced the question out in a harsh whisper, and it hung heavy in the air.

"No, he doesn't hate you," Dream sighed in relief, "He just doesn't understand, and I don't either. Why didn't you tell us?" Sapnap asked, hurt evident in his voice. 

Dream felt the shame creeping up his face again. "W-What do you mean?" he asked, even though he knew exactly what his friend meant. 

"That you liked guys?" Sapnap said the words that Dream hoped he wouldn't. Dream stayed quiet for a moment, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I was scared. I was scared that you would reject me, that I would lose you two," Dream felt tears welling up in his eyes again. "I'm s-sorry."

Sapnap let out a small 'oh'. "Clay, Dream, we will always accept you. We love you," Sapnap softly said, and Dream felt a hot tear trailing down his face. 

"T-Thank you," Dream said, his voice shaky. He laughed a little, the stress of the previous night and of that morning starting to slip away. He wiped away his tears. It was quiet for a second. "What.. What did George say?" Dream asked, his heart skipping a beat.

Sapnap stayed quiet for a minute. "I think it's better if you talk to him," he finally answered. Dream felt a little frustrated.

"I've been trying to, but he won't answer me," Dream said, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips as he ran a hand through his hair. He could practically hear Sapnap's gears turning.

"I'll tell him to talk to you, okay?" Sapnap said.

"Ok," Dream bit his lip, "are you sure he doesn't hate me?" He asked, still unsure. 

"Yes, I'm sure. I've got to go- I'll talk to you later, Dream," Sapnap hung up, leaving Dream to sit there in silence.

He leaned back against his headboard. 

Dream closed his eyes, and started chuckling weakly, the sound bittersweet in his ears. His stomach rumbled, and Dream's laughter died down. It seemed so stupid- that one little sentence caused all of this. Maybe he shouldn't have reacted the way he did. Maybe he shouldn't have texted George so many times. There was no changing the past though. 

All Dream could do was try to fix his mistakes.

He finally got out of bed, somehow feeling more tired than he did the night before. Dream went over to his dresser, and pulled out a random pair of sweatpants and boxers. He slipped them on. Dream didn't bother to change his shirt, and reached for his phone. As he was about to pick up the white rectangle, he paused. He felt like he had swallowed a ball of lead that only grew bigger as he picked up his phone. Dream grabbed it anyways, just in case George called while he was getting breakfast. 

Dream opened his door and walked out into the hallway, the darkness soothing his eyes. As he walked down the stairs, Dream looked down at the pictures he had set up on the steps. Since he was only renting his house, he couldn't hang things up on the wall with hooks or nails. The only reason he got away with his flag was because he had hung it with painter's tape. 

Dream went into his kitchen, and opened the fridge. However, nothing looked appetizing.   
He sighed and closed the door after a few minutes of aimless searching.

The phone in his pocket weighed tons instead of ounces, his feet felt like chunks of bedrock, his head felt like it was filled with cotton- Everything felt wrong, and Dream had no idea why.

It was only common sense that he would be feeling at least a little better by now. So why did he feel worse? Dream sat down at his table and laid his head down, holding it in his arms. He stayed like that for a while, drowning in his thoughts. 

To distract himself from the growing tidal wave of intrusive thoughts, Dream tried to think about how his day would normally go.

On a normal day, he'd wake up due to his alarm, and he'd slip out of bed with a small grumble. Dream would then get dressed and brush his teeth- 

He forgot to brush his teeth. Or put on deodorant. Dream knew he needed to do the basic hygiene, but he really didn't feel like moving. 

He slipped back into his daydream.

Dream would brush his teeth and put on deodorant, and then style his hair and do his makeup in the bathroom mirror. For someone who didn't want to show his face on camera, he took his appearance very seriously. Dream never did anything too bold, especially not with his makeup, he just used it to enhance his best features.

After his finished fussing with his face, he would go down the steps with the intent of making breakfast. Dream would use his phone to put on some music, checking his YouTube and other social medias while he was skipping through songs. 

When he settled on one he liked, Dream would slip his phone back into his pocket and get out his cereal. Lucky charms was always his favorite, for the same reason that it was everyone else's favorite. The marshmallows were just so good and sugary! Dream would eat, and then put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher. 

He would then check to see if his cat's automatic feeder needed refilling, and refill it if it did. He'd flip through the TV channels for a bit, maybe go outside and enjoy the warm Florida air. On a normal day, Dream would probably go back upstairs to record a video, or just have fun with his friends. 

On a normal day, he would probably be texting George right about now. Most likely sending him some stupid meme he saw online, or talking about video ideas. Maybe doing some flirting "jokingly" to try to satisfy his secret feelings.

On a normal day, Dream wouldn't be thinking about how a normal day went by.

"I don't wanna know who I am, cuz Heaven only knows what I'll find, I don't wanna know I'm not capable of coming out alive," Dream's phone buzzed in his pocket, familiar music blaring out of it. The sudden noise startled the 20 year old, causing him to hit his funny bone on the table. He winced, rubbing his elbow.

His phone reminded him that someone was still calling him by repeating the song clip, and Dream's eyes widened as he realised who was calling him. His heart fluttered for a second, before it came crashing right back down. 

Dream took his phone out of his pocket, ashamed at how his lips still wanted to tug up in a smile at the sight of George's face. 

Dream finally had the chance to explain himself to George. What would he say though? He was torn between lying and saying that it was a stupid prank and that he was sorry, or actually confessing to his best friend. Either way, he needed to answer soon or else he wouldn't be able to say anything. 

Dream pushed down all of the bad feelings that were churning inside of him, closing his eyes. This was it. He might lose his best friend, get rejected, or he might just make things awkward between them.

Dream took a deep breath, and hit the answer button.


	4. shattered mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning: dissociation / depersonalization 
> 
> inspo song:  
> i know a place by conan gray
> 
> this is the chapter that everyone hates me for- well, this one, the next one, and the final one lol

"Dream?" George's high-pitched voice played through Dream's phone speakers, and Dream lost his voice. 

"Hello??" 

Dream shut his eyes tight, and managed to squeeze something out of his throat.

"Hi," Dream's voice sounded strained. 

A pause that felt like it lasted a million years.

"Dream- Clay, I don't know what to say," George finally said, pronouncing each word like they were jigsaw pieces he was tapping into places they didn't fit. Dream felt his eyes starting to well up with tears, and quickly wiped them away.

"I thought you were just joking, and so I joked back, and I'm so sorry for messing with your feelings like that," George explained, and Dream felt his heart break in two. There was a long, painful moment of silence.

"I don't like you like that, but we can still be friends if you want?" George's voice ended in a question that just steam-rolled the remains of Clay's heart. 

Another quiet moment.

This time, Clay didn't know what to say. He scoured his mind for words but all that came to mind was the moment it all went wrong.

"I guess that would be okay," he finally whispered, the sound of his words trying to cut the thick blanket of tension covering their phone call. He could practically hear George's strained smile through his words.

"Also, I don't care if you like guys or girls or non-binary space people. You're still my friend, and I'll always l-, care, about you," Clay's longest, and maybe last, love spoke in a comforting tone that couldn't make up for that little stutter. He knew that George was going to say love. It made his heart ache to think that he wouldn't ever hear those words from him again. Clay rubbed his eyes, noticing that no new tears had fallen. He guessed that his tear-ducts had just run dry with the amount he'd been crying recently. 

"Thanks George, it means a lot to me," Clay's voice was a little more steady. The heavy weight of his secret feelings was gone, but it had been replaced with pieces of Clay's shattered heart. 

They exchanged goodbyes, and Clay leaned back in the hard wooden chair. 

Over the course of about 19 hours, he had confessed to his crush, got ignored by said crush, cried for two hours straight, passed out in his clothes, and got his heart broken. 

Clay felt the corners of his eyes prick with tears. He struggled to hold them in, too tired to go through another crying spell even though he just woke up. 

Clay needed a distraction.

Maybe watching some stupid meme compilation, or scrolling through fanart on twitter would lighten his mood.

He forced himself to get up and go back upstairs, dragging his lead legs up past the picture frames. Each step he took felt like gravity was trying to drag him deep, deep down into the earth and it was winning. Clay finally got to his room and went inside.

He gently pulled out the chair at his desk and sat down, placing his hand on his mouse. As soon as he clicked on Chrome, a terror-inducing crack came from beneath him. Clay went tumbling to the ground, his arms instinctively reaching out to grab onto something, anything. The dust settled, and revealed that one of the legs had snapped, leaving a jagged edge in it's place. Clay was laying on the ground amidst the broken pieces of the chair. His head hurt a little, but it was most likely from the panic of the fall.

He felt a trickle of blood go down his arm, and felt like laughing. Just his luck, right? Just his fucking luck that everything would just go wrong today. Clay wanted to blame some higher power for his misfortune. He wanted something, someone solid and real that he could punch and hit and kick until they felt the pain he did right now. 

He did let out a laugh, but it turned to a shaky sob. His arm was still bleeding, little spots of red darkening his soft green hoodie. The cloth rubbed against the raw skin, and he winced through the tears. Clay curled up, a thunderstorm smothering all of his positive thoughts with dark rain, each droplet a dagger of self-hate and guilt.

The storm leaked through his eyes, a steady river of pent up infatuation and anger and shame. Clay hugged his arms close to his chest despite the sharp twinge of pain from his cuts. He shook, each sob that racked his chest a bolt of lightning striking his already flooded mind.

It took Clay a while to calm down, and even longer for him to get up and address his wound. 

He went into the bathroom and rolled up his sleeves. He avoided meeting his reflection's eyes, too scared of what he would see. Clay turned his arm around in the mirror, looking at the jagged cut. 

It didn't look deep, or too serious. It just ran down the length of his arm. He opened the medicine cabinet, and pulled out the gauze and Neosporin. Clay closed the mirror, and was met with someone he didn't recognize.

This person had tangled, messy dirty blond hair that fell into their eyes. Their eyes were a dull green, the area around them puffy and red. Their face was as red as the inside of a watermelon. Clay reached out to touch the mirror, and saw that person's hand reach out too. 

Both sets of fingertips moved in sync towards the glass, and Clay's head spun. He noticed that the reflection had a cut on their arm as well, and he wondered what had happened to them. Were they trying to escape, or did they just bump into a sharp table corner? 

Clay watched as a drop of blood fell onto both identical sinks, and he fell forwards onto his elbows. One of which still stung from hitting it earlier. He gasped, the impact of his consciousness being slammed back into his body giving him a splitting headache.

This was no stranger, the messed up, depressed person in the mirror was him. He closed his eyes, the space behind them seemingly filled with torn up cotton balls. Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong.

With a shaky hand Clay wrapped his arm in the gauze and stumbled out of the bathroom. His cat, Patches, came over and meowed. She rubbed against his leg mewling, frantically. It was like she knew something was wrong too. Clay walked into his room, using the walls as support.

His head throbbed, his eyes stinging with panicked tears. He sat down on his bed, and looked over at the chair pieces with blurred vision.

On the back of the chair, where he hit his head, a couple dark red splotches reflected the light of his lamp. Clay's face paled, and he slowly reached up to touch the back of his head. 

His hand came away red.

Clay felt a stab of red-hot pain at the back of his head, panic drowning his thoughts. He reached for his phone on his desk, and typed in the first number he could think of. He felt nauseous, and fell back onto his bed.

It rang for a moment before he picked up.

"Dream? What's up?" George's confused voice came from the other end, and Dream tried his best to form a sentence before he lost consciousness.

"Hit head... There's blood... Send help.." Dream said, his voice slurring as his vision went dark. George's panicked questions and cries grew fainter and fainter as the young man's mind faded out of this world.


	5. forget

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> do you still love me like you used to by missio
> 
> dont hate me for this chapter lol

Nothing.

Nothing was all Clay could see.

A thick blanket of nothing weighed down on his back, and he struggled to breathe. Clay looked around, trying to find something, anything.

There was just... Nothing.

He felt his eyes start to well up with tears, but held them back. He took a deep, shaky breath and closed his eyes. His breath quickened its pace again as thoughts raced through his head at a million miles per hour. For some reason, his high school health class was one though that lingered. Specifically, a project where they had a day to make a poster with a positive message about mental disorders on it.

It had been assigned as a conclusion to their unit on mental health. Clay had scrawled down some random inspirational quote he had found on the internet and drew flowers and smiley faces around it for a quick A. Some of the posters got printed out/copied and hung around the school though. One of which he passed on his way to Algebra class each day. It said something about a breathing exercise to do when you got anxious. 478, if he remembered properly. Breathe in for four seconds, hold it for seven, and then breathe out for eight seconds. You were supposed to repeat until your breathing returned to normal and you calmed down. Now was as good a time as any to try it out, since he would most likely be stuck in the void for a while.

Clay counted to four in his head, taking a deep breath through his nostrils. He held the breath for seven seconds against the protest of his aching lungs. Clay exhaled for eight seconds. He noticed the change almost immediately, feeling more calm. The scared individual repeated the steps, his breath slowing to a normal pace.

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer trapped in the Nothing.

He was in a hotel room. Dream looked around, smiling at the familiar surroundings. George's stuff was spread out on one bed, Dream laying on the other. They were at a minecraft convention in Miami.

"Hurry up George, you're gonna use up all of the hot water!" Dream called out, scrolling through Twitter on his phone. He paused, seeing that someone had tagged him in a post about an "animation meme" of him and George.

"This is a hotel, they can't run out of hot water!" George yelled back from the bathroom, unsurprisingly far louder than the shower. Dream scoffed, and smiled at George's remark. He clicked on the video, intrigued.

It started playing, and from the get-go it was clear that the creator was shipping the two of them. In the beginning, it did explicitly say "Dream x Georgenotfound". Dream had learned what that meant through an embarrassing game of Truth or Dare. People write some weird things...

It was the "Can't Sleep Love" meme, and it was actually pretty adorable. It made Dream feel good to see him and George in a relationship, so he retweeted it.

  
George finally came out of the shower with his towel wrapped around his waist. It took all of Dream's might to not stare at his bare chest.

"Like what you see~?" George chuckled, flexing a little. Dream laughed at how silly he was.

"Who doesn't want to see their boyfriend half-naked?" Dream chuckled as he watched George try to process his words.

"What??"

"Nothing," Dream laughed, blushing. George was so cute when he was confused, his head tilting like a puppy. He got up to go take a shower, stretching a little. Before he went in, Dream grabbed his pajamas so he wouldn't have to change in front of George.

As he walked, he made that George could see his butt. He heard George whistle, and knew he was looking. His heart raced a little as he realised that George had looked directly at his best feature.

Dream took his shower, and dried off. He tossed the towel on the ground and got changed. His pjs were really just a pair of boxers and an oversized shirt. Dream collected his dirty clothes and went back out.

George 'aw'ed, looking up at Dream. "I don't get a show?" He pouted. Dream flushed.

"No, you don't," Dream said, putting away his dirty clothes in his bag. George whines turned into giggles, and Dream couldn't help but smile.

"We should record a video while we're here!"

"With what computer?"

"Oh yeah. Hey, I think someone's calling you. Your phone's going off."

Dream felt the world around him dissappearing and scrambled to hold onto something. George was frozen in time, his lips curled in a small smile. His brown eyes still twinkling with the innocence of childhood hopscotch, or bubbles on a Summer's afternoon. He was the last thing to go, his form staying for a moment longer.

Then Dream was left alone. The ringtone, that on closer inspection actually sounded like an alarm, was all he had.

It grew louder.

And louder.

And louder, until Dream couldn't think straight. He fell to the invisible ground, squeezing his hands against his head as tight as he could. The entire world around him felt like it was shaking from the force of this horrible noise. Dream shut his eyes and curled up, shaking along with the Nothing.

He thought that it couldn't get any worse, that he would die here, alone.

Then he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness just like he did after he called for help. The details were fuzzy, but Dream thought he could remember Sap's voice telling him that it would be okay.

Dream repeated his friend's words in his mind until he couldn't think again.

Soft beeping stirred Dream from his slumber. He yawned, blinking with heavy eyelids. Instead of the familiar sight of his grey walls, Dream was met with blinding white.

He groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. The beeping was louder now, and Dream recognized the sound. He was hooked up to a heart monitor. He fully opened his eyes, and looked around. To his left was the machines responsible for waking him up, along with an IV. He traced the path of the tube down into his arm and felt the urge to rip out the needle. That's what they did in movies, right? His head hurt, and the noise wasn't making it any better.

Dream closed his eyes for a moment before turning to the right. Two people were sitting in the visitors chairs talking in hushed tones.

He immediately recognized one of them. The other was a stranger.

"Sap? What are you doing here?" Dream asked, his words slurred from the drugs and remnants of sleep. His good friend looked up, and Dream could immediately tell that he had been crying.

"Clay! Thank god you're okay," Sap rushed to Dream's side and hugged him tightly. Dream laughed a little, and returned the affection weakly. "We were so worried about you! When you called-"

"We?" Dream raised an eyebrow, and looked over at the person Sap had been talking to. Sap's expression turned from relieved to confused to worried in a matter of seconds.

The person stood up, confusion displayed on their features. "You don't remember me?" Their voice sounded like it belonged to a teenager, and their appearance definitely met that description.

"Are you Sap's little brother or something?" Dream turned towards Sap, who just looked over at the boy. Sapnap's little brother furrowed his eyebrows.

"This isn't funny Clay," he said, hurt evident in his voice. Dream tilted his head a little.

"What's not funny? I mean, this is literally our first time meeting," Dream said, and shifted a small bit in his bed, "In fact, you're making me a little uncomfortable. Sap, can you get your bro to leave?"

Understanding dawned on Sap's brothers face. He sat back down in his chair, dumbfoundedly staring at Dream.

"You really don't know who I am? You really don't remember me, Dream?" He asked, clearly on the verge of tears. Dream nodded slowly, staring at his weird behavior.

Sapnap left the room. Probably to go get a doctor or something, since he did just wake up. That left Dream alone with the kid.

"Look, kid," he flinched at Dream's words, "I just woke up from a coma that I have no idea how long I was in. I don't really want to deal with your crap right now. If you would please leave me alone, I'd really appreciate it."

He didn't though. He pulled out his phone, and Dream rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to say something, he heard his own voice.

"Come on, just say it!" His voice came from the kid's phone and Dream's head spun. He knew what video this came from- He and Sap were doing a challenge where they shared one inventory slot. He was trying to get Sap to tell him he loved him as a joke and kept replacing his sword with roses.

"No! It'll be recorded on the internet forever!"

That wasn't Sapnap.

"That's the whole point!"

His voice. His video. He remembered it, but that was the kid's voice in the video with him.

"Give me my sword- I need food Dream!"

His voice rang through Dream's head, giving him a splitting headache.

"Ugh, please turn that off!" Dream winced, shakily bringing his hands up to his head.

He looked over at the man to see that he was crying.

"Dream, please. It's me. You have to remember me."

"For the last time, I don't know you!"

"You do! We've known each other for four years, we've played Minecraft with each other for longer! We basically only upload videos on our channels with each other!"

"No, that's Sap."

"No it's not, Dream."

The video continued playing.

"- just say it! Say you love me!" Dream's voice rang through the tinny speakers, making his head pound.

"I don't understand,"

"George. My name is George. You had a crush on me. I rejected you. You hit your head because of me. You're in this hospital, because I ignored you after you confessed to me," George's voice got more and more weak, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

"It's my fault you forgot me."

All Dream could do was stare.


	6. who was i?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> compass by zella day
> 
> man standing

Two pairs of eyes met for what seemed like a thousand years. One sparkled with surprise, whilst the other shone with pure pain. It was only when Sapnap returned with a doctor that George broke their stare. Dream's supposed crush sat back down, glaring at the wall as angry tears streamed down his face. Dream was just stunned, unable to say anything.

"Ah, you're awake. I'm Dr. Darren. How are you feeling Clay?" the doctor asked, checking over the beeping machines that had woken him up. Dream watched him for a second, still lost in thought. 

"Okay, I guess? I have a headache, if that means anything," Dream finally responded, still feeling awkward from his and George's talk. His "headache" was really more of a migraine. It felt like his brain was trying to escape the confines of his very skull, pounding on the bone walls. He closed his eyes for a second, favoring the darkness of his eyelids over the blinding hospital light.

The doctor hummed as he walked away from the machines. Dream opened his eyes to a squint to watch him. Dr. Darren paused at the end of his bed, where a couple knobs and medical-thingys were. Dream followed his movements with his eyes as the doctor walked over to the side of his bed. He had a friendly, approachable aura and Dream was thankful for a comforting presence.

"We're going to have to keep you for a week, maybe a little longer so we can make sure you don't have any real brain trauma. Have you noticed anything weird since waking up? I need to know about any dark spots in your vision, hallucinations, memory loss, etc. so I can properly help you," he smiled, his voice comfortingly calm. Dream blinked and opened his eyes fully.

His gaze flickered over to George at the last thing Dr. Darren listed. The blue-clad man was wiping his eyes with his sleeve, trying to stop the flow of tears. It was only now that Dream realized that his character was printed on his hoodie, peeking out of the pocket. He wondered where George had gotten it, since that design wasn't on his merch store. He looked back over at Dr. Darren.

"I don't think-" Before he could fully answer, Sap interrupted him.

"He's completely forgotten about George," Sap's voice strained as he waved a hand towards the broken individual, who sniffled and looked up. George's eyes were red and puffy, his hair a tangled mess. He looked back down, putting his arms around himself. Dream looked down at his wrist, seeing the IV cord and the hospital wrist band. He fiddled with the needle a little, still having the urge to take it out.

Dr. Darren's eyebrows furrowed. Dream felt like he was in trouble. The doctor chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking for a moment. "I see," he said, taking a small sticky notepad and pen out of his jacket. He scribbled something down, and tapped them back into his pocket. "We're going to have to do an MRI, just to make sure you didn't get any major brain damage, ok?" 

"I-... ok," Dream looked up, his eyes widening. He cut his thought short, and agreed hesitantly. The doctor smiled and left the room when Dream said he was good for now, probably going to help another one of his patients. 

Just seconds after he was out of sight, the tension in the air skyrocketed. It was hard to breathe, causing Dream to squirm a little.

He managed to pull himself into an upright position, fighting against the pounding in his head and the wave of nausea that churned in his stomach. He groaned quietly. Dream closed his eyes again, waiting until his body decided it wanted to cooperate with him before opening them.

"So, uh," He started, trying to do anything to break the thick, smoke-like air smothering the room. Dream closed his mouth when George suddenly stood up. He glanced over in Dream's direction and paused. Seemingly decided on something, George quickly speed-walked over to the door and left. Dream felt guilty, even though it wasn't his choice to forget him. It wasn't his fault, right? Now that Dream thought about it, he didn't remember anything from the day he assumed he got hurt. Or the day before. Dream panicked. The nausea came back in full force. Questions raced through his mind- What happened those two days? How had he gotten hurt? Why just George?

What had he done?

Sap sat back down in the seat he had been sitting in when Dream woke up. His friend crossed his arms, staring at the floor intensely. Dream sighed, looking to the side. The thudding in his head had subsided a fair amount, but it was still there. He slowly slipped back down into the thin covers on his hospital bed, unsure of what to do. His stomach was still churning, Dream unsure if he was actually going to throw up. He swallowed anyway, his mouth dry. Dream wished he had asked Dr. Darren if he could have a glass of water.

"Sap?"

Sapnap looked up, instantly concerned.

"What is it Dream? Is your head hurting still? Do I need to go get the doctor again-" Sap frantically said, clearly worried about the state of his friend.

"No, no," Dream interrupted him, "I was just wondering if you could, uh, tell me about George?" his voice quieted towards the end, his eyes going back to the IV needle again. Dream flushed a little, still guilty about before. 

Sap hesitated, before calming down. Dream could still see him fidget with his thumbs and knew he was still worried, just trying to not let it show. He thought for a moment.

"Well, you knew him better than any of us,"

"A6D, Skeppy, and BadBoyHalo-" Dream said, realizing that he remembered the rest of his friends perfectly. That made him feel a little better.

"Yeah. Good to see that you haven't forgotten anyone else," Sap smiled a little.  
"Anyway, you and George were nearly inseparable. The closest best friends I've ever seen. It was kind of funny, actually. The fans always loved your bond," Sap chuckled, "Some of them even shipped the two of you. I think your ship name was DreamNotFound? I'm not really sure," he trailed off. Dream was listening intently, trying to take in as much information as he could. 

"George is a screamer- Whenever we played together, he always hit the max volume. Um, he's also very hyper. That one time we went to a minecon together we constantly had to chase after him. That was pretty fun. If I remember right George instantly passed out as soon as we got back to the hotel room.

"You always had this tone in your voice when you were talking about him that I never heard you use with anyone else. I'm surprised I didn't realize what it was back then. Wait, do you remember what happened before you hit your head?" Sap asked, fidgeting with his hands. Dream shook his head, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He felt so lost, and incomplete. Dream thought that having Sapnap tell him stuff would make him feel better, but instead it did the opposite.

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened, I just know what George told me," Sap paused, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Dream thought for a moment. He thought about George's pained expression, and the way he rushed out of the room. He remembered the moment he realized that he had completely forgotten his best friend. How he felt like a piece of him had been stolen from him. His heart ached to know what had happened, to figure out why this was happening to him. 

"I don't want to, I need to."


	7. question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> this is home by cavetown
> 
> enjoy the update spam cuz this story is done and im just posting it here lol

Sapnap paused, seemingly collecting his thoughts. Dream waited for him to speak.

"George basically already said the gist of what happened earlier, so I guess I'll go into more detail," Sap started and Dream fiddled with the blankets. George's outburst almost felt like a dream, like it didn't really happen. Sapnap continued.

"You and George were recording another Minecraft Manhunt video. I think you guys were close to the end and you started chasing after him or something in the stronghold. You let him go after saying something on accident.

"George told me your exact words: 'Fine, but only because I love you.' He normally would have thought it was a joke but you sounded so serious. Then, when you freaked out a few seconds later, he knew you actually meant it."

Dream looked down. He felt like he should be getting emotional, but for some reason he just felt distant to the words. It was like he was just listening to a story about someone else. To be honest, it kind of sounded like the plot of a story he once read. He tuned back in when Sap started talking again.

"George just sort of logged off and disappeared for a bit before calling me. We talked about it some and then I called you. I asked you why you hadn't come out to us, you said you were scared we'd reject you, and I said that we'd love you no matter what. I told George to call you and he did and I'm not sure what happened after that until George called me again.

"He was panicking, saying that something bad had happened to you and that I needed to call 911. He was so worried for you that he was practically bawling to me over the phone.

"I called an ambulance, we flew here as fast as we could, and now we're here and George is off somewhere because you forgot him and I don't know if you'll be okay, and- and-" Sap whimpered, his voice shaky. His eyes were red with tears. Dream bit the inside of his cheek, trying to fight back tears of his own. His vision grew blurry anyway as he looked down at the IV once more.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Sap," Dream said, trying to reassure his friend. Sap nodded, wiping away his tears with his sleeve. Sapnap's words had made Dream unsure though. What if he wasn't fine...? What if his amnesia didn't stop at George? What if he forgot Sap and Bad and Skeppy and-

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more," Sap said, breaking Dream out of his spell. Sapnap sniffled. Dream smiled weakly.

"It's fine. Thanks Sap," Dream reassured him. Sapnap smiled, wiping his eyes. He looked towards the door, thinking about George. Dream didn't know how to feel about the man; should he love him? No, George rejected him. Would George even want to still be friends, considering Dream doesn't remember him whatsoever? They'd have to rebuild everything. That might be too painful for George, seeing as Dream would probably get everything wrong at first. Dream really wanted to make it up to George though...

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think George would want to be friends with me again?" Dream took his eyes off the door and met Sapnap's gaze.

"I don't know," he looked down, "Do you want me to go find him?"

Dream nodded. Sap stood up. Sap said that he'd be back soon and then he was gone. Dream closed his eyes. He wished that this was just a dream, that he would wake up soon and everything would be normal and he'd know what George's favorite color is, if he had any pets, what his last name was-

Dream yawned. He tried to ignore the relentless questions as his body begged for sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in a hospital bed.

He was sitting back at home, at his desk. Dream blinked, confused. 

"-it was so great and I wish you could've been there! I mean, Sap's face was priceless!" George's voice came out of Dream's speakers. 

"George? What happened?" Dream asked him, leaning forwards in his chair. He heard a creak from underneath of him, but ignored it. His chair always made weird noises. It was fine. 

"Um, have you been listening?? I was telling you about Sap and I's latest video," George whined.

"No, I mean- One moment I was in the hospital and the next I'm here!" Dream sighed, frustrated. He heard George shuffle around on the other end of the call and wondered what he was doing. 

"George?"

No response.

This felt familiar.

"George, I don't know if this is even real or not, but I'm sorry. I didn't want to forget you. I- I'm just scared and I just wish we could be friends again," his voice cracked towards the end. Dream felt tears roll down his cheeks, and quickly wiped them away. 

"Dream, it's ok," George finally responded.

Dream fell silent asides from a few sniffles. He nodded, though George couldn't see.

"You're gonna be ok."

Dream opened his eyes. George was standing beside his bed, Sap next to him. 

"George?" Dream blinked. George smiled for a second. He looked down and frowned again.

"You were talking in your sleep," Sap said, shifting his weight to one leg. Dream noticed that his friends were holding all of their stuff.

"You're leaving?" Dream looked up, a slight whine in his words. Neither of them met his gaze. 

"Visiting hours are over, Dream," George said, looking down at his feet. Dream felt the anxiety bubble up in him again.

"But! We're staying for a few weeks, so we can come visit every day!" Sap perked up and George nodded. Dream smiled. 

George and Sap said their goodbyes and Dream was left alone again. 

This time, sleep didn't take Dream so easily.


	8. minecraft vibes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> tongue tied by group love
> 
> this chapter is nice and fluffy :]

Eight days later and it time for Dream to finally go home. He felt so much better than he did when he woke up, his headache having subsided. Dream was far more than ready to leave the hospital. Plus, he and George had been talking more too and they were gonna hang out later-

In fact, the third day, George visited him alone for the first time.

Dream was reading a book that Sap had brought him the day before when he came in. Dream looked up, startled by the sudden noise of the door opening. He immediately set down the book and sat up.

"Hey George," Dream said, watching as George pulled a chair up beside Dream's bed. George flopped down in it, pulling out his phone without responding to Dream's greeting. He scrolled through for a few moments before leaning forwards in his chair. Dream closed his mouth, wondering what George was doing as he furiously tapped away. Dream's phone dinged. He picked it up, seeing that he had received a message.

Georgey-poo:  
Hi  
I lost my voice earlier today so I can't speak  
Stupid hypixel battles  
How are you feeling?

Dream hadn't touched his contact since he saw it, so it was still saved as a cutesy and sort of flirty version of George. He looked up and smiled. "I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?" he responded. George smiled. The day before, when Sapnap had also given him the book, his friend had dropped off his phone. Dream spent the rest of the day combing through it, reading all of his texts with George, looking at every picture they had taken together, even every Twitter reply. 

Georgey-poo:  
I'm ok

George's fingers hovered over the keyboard and Dream wondered what he was thinking. 

Georgey-poo:  
Do you want to play mc

Dream chuckled, "Sure!" George grinned. He turned his phone sideways and scooted his chair closer to Dream. Dream opened Minecraft on his phone, holding it in his lap. "I'll make the world," he said. Once it finished loading Dream paused.

There was a world labelled "Dreamnotfound". "Is this our world?" Dream asked, showing his phone to George who shook his head. Dream loaded the world, curious as to what he'd find. When George joined, he opened his mouth in a gasp. Dream actually gasped.

It was so beautiful. There was a house right in front of spawn, which was on a sky island. The birch and smooth-stone home was accented with blue and green stained glass and sea lanterns. There was an intricately detailed path leading up to the front doors, lined with flowers and a small river. He moved around, looking at the aesthetic building. George went into chat and started typing.

GeorgeNotFound: you built all of this for me?

"I-I think? I don't really remember making this," Dream said, just as awestruck as the man beside him. He moved his character towards the house, wanting to see what was inside. 

It was even prettier on the inside than the outside. Each block looked like it was put in its place with careful consideration. The house was much bigger on the inside as well, possibly due to some coding on Dream's part. He saw George's character follow him inside.

Dream didn't know what to look at. There was a spiral staircase leading up to a second floor in front of him, a living room/library to his left, and a mock gaming room to his right. "Where should we go first?" Dream looked up from his phone at George. The man was intensely focused on the screen in front of him, his eyes sparkling. "George?" Dream raised an eyebrow. George looked up, his face a little red. Dream chuckled.

He typed on his phone for a few seconds.  
GeorgeNotFound: upstairs

Dream nodded and went up the stairs, humming softly. George followed him, pausing to look at the chandelier at the top of the stairs.

There was a large loft-ish area, complete with carpet and chairs. A soul-sand fire blazed in the fireplace, surrounded by bookshelves and a painting. Dream looked around in awe. Did he really make all of this? He couldn't remember ever building anything like this before. George went off towards the side as Dream continued inspecting everything. Especially the chandelier. That was a nice touch. George started typing in chat a few moments later.

GeorgeNotFound: Dream??

"Yeah?"

GeorgeNotFound: What is this?

Dream went into the room George did. Instead of being greeted by another gaming room or something, Dream went into a bedroom. On a slightly raised platform there was a green and blue bed right next to each other. Color-coded shulker boxes were set up on either side with endrods as lamps. What appeared to be a picture of the two of them was hung above the bed, most likely placed there through a mod/plugin. 

"I don't know," Dream opened the blue shulker box, and took out the single item that was in it. It was a rose that had been named "For George". He tossed it over to George and waited for his reaction.

GeorgeNotFound: oh  
GeorgeNotFound: thank you

Dream exhaled through his nose, amused by George's reaction. "I wonder how long it took me to make this," he said, looking over at George. George met Dream's eyes and shrugged.

GeorgeNotFound: i didn't even know you could build stuff like this

Dream sighed and sat back. He looked out the window at the city around the hospital. It had only been a day and Dream already missed home. George set down his phone. Dream glanced over at him, wondering what he was doing. 

George was digging through his pocket, biting the inside of his cheek as he searched for something. He perked up when he found it, pulling out the object. He presented it to a curious Dream.

It was a plushie of Dream's persona that was just about the size of his hand.   
George smiled as Dream took it. "Aw, where did you find this?" Dream asked, cradling the gift in the palms of his hands. He looked up at George, happy.

George picked up his phone again and started typing. Dream looked over at his phone and read the notification when he finished.

Georgey-poo: I ordered it like a week before the accident happened and it just arrived last night

"Aw, well thank you!" Dream held the plush close to his chest, chuckling a little. George nodded, smiling. He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

Georgey-poo: What do you wanna do now?

"Hm... what's something we did for fun before?" Dream asked, tilting his head slightly. George thought for a moment.

Georgey-poo: we had Wattpad accounts that we'd use to scare people who wrote fanfiction about us.

Dream snorted. "That sounds like fun," he said, pulling out his phone. 

They spent the rest of George's visiting time messing around on Wattpad and Twitter and eventually put on some Pewdiepie videos just to watch and enjoy together.

When it was time for George to leave, Dream felt a twinge of sadness. They had been having a great time and Dream didn't want it to end. He said goodbye reluctantly, watching as George collected his things. George waved, smiling at Dream. 

After George left, Dream logged back onto Minecraft. He scrolled through his worlds, seeing if there were any other worlds dedicated to "DreamNotFound". There weren't, but he did find their actual world. Dream played until he fell asleep, exploring every nook and cranny to see if he could learn anything more about George. 

Dream blinked, leaving his flashback. He sighed and looked out the window. Rain drops tapped against the glass, blurring Dream's vision of the city beyond. Someone knocked on his door and he looked over. 

"Hey Dream, you ready to go?" Sapnap asked, smiling. He was leaning up against the doorway, his arms crossed.

Dream grinned. "Oh my god yes," he said, groaning and dramatically fell back against his bed. Sapnap laughed and walked over to him. 

"Alright, let's get you out of this bed," Sap reached out and grasped Dream's arm. Dream sat up and swung his feet over the bed. He supported himself with Sapnap's arm, trying to put as little weight as he could on his weakened legs.

Dream stood up for what felt like the first time in years, though it had really only been a few hours since he had to go to the bathroom. His knees wobbled but with Sap's support he could walk. They went around and got all of Dream's stuff together, putting it into a drawstring bag that Sap had brought.

"Let's go," Sap said after they finished. Dream nodded, eager to leave. 

The car ride back was full of jokes and friendly chatter. Dream was laughing as Sapnap helped him out of the car. Sap had told him some of the insane things that have happened on his Discord server, like how the night before all of the artists were drawing him in dresses due to Rose. 

They got inside and Dream immediately sat down on the sofa. His legs were already sore and he had barely walked. Trying to move around his house was going to suck.

George walked into the room and pulled out the chair at the kitchen table. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. Dream groaned.

"Dead," he laughed. George chuckled. The house was quiet for a few moments. 

"Who wants to watch a movie?" Sap asked, coming down the stairs. Dream guessed that he had been putting his stuff into his bedroom. 

"Yesss!" George said, going over and hopping onto the couch. Dream noticed how much smaller he seemed curled up in the cushions. It was a little cute. 

"What are we gonna watch?" Dream asked, looking over at Sapnap.

"Your choice," Sap countered, tossing Dream the remote and sitting down on the other side of George. 

Dream shook his head and chuckled.

"Fine. I hope you know we're watching the new Zombies movie," he said, clicking on Disney+. Sap hummed.

"That's ok with me," he replied, getting comfy. George reached over his shoulder and pulled the blanket down, wrapping it around himself. Dream's scrolling slowed a little as he looked over at George. Why was he so cute? 

Dream looked back, a faint pink color dusting his cheeks. He clicked on the movie, setting the remote down as it loaded.

The three friends ended up falling asleep near the end of the movie, piling up under George's blanket.


	9. pillow forts and pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> malboro nights by lonely god

Dream woke up and yawned. He snuggled back into his position, curling into the warmth beside him. He felt sleep begin to take him again and welcomed it. Then the warm blankets beside him moved. He felt an arm move over him and froze, his eyes opening. Dream looked up at the owner of the arm and blushed.

George was unconsciously cuddling Dream in his sleep, pulling him closer. Dream panicked slightly, unsure of what to do. He decided to just relax and let it happen, not wanting to wake George up.

Also, it might have felt good. Really good. Dream closed his eyes again and returned the affection, a small smile on his face. He slipped back into slumber, surrounded by warm feelings and love.

George was awake when Dream opened his eyes again. The older male still had his arm around him, scrolling through his phone with his other hand. Dream moved a little, his foot having fallen asleep. George looked over at Dream. Their eyes locked for a second, before George scrambled away from Dream with a squeak.

Dream blinked, wondering what had just happened.

"I wasn't- You were still sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up- I-" George flushed red, frantically making excuses. Dream laughed a little and sat up.

"Good morning George," he stretched, smiling over at him. George was still flustered, curled up on the other side of the couch. Dream noticed that Sapnap was gone and looked around.

"Where'd Sap go?" he asked, turning back towards George. George had calmed down but his face was still pink.

"Is Dream finally awake?" Sapnap asked, walking into the living room from the kitchen. Dream turned around to face him and smiled.

"Hey Sap!" he greeted. Sap smiled back.

"Hey Dream! How'd you sleep?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking over at George. George blushed and looked away. Dream ignored it and responded to Sap.

"I slept good, you?" he hummed, stretching.

"Good, good, I just finished making breakfast. You guys hungry?" Sap asked, looking between the two. George nodded and Dream hummed. The two of them followed Sap into the kitchen, chatting about random things. 

It had been a while since Dream had said anything online and his fans were starting to get worried, so he was probably going to post something on Twitter later. They all agreed that they probably shouldn't tell their fanbase what actually happened but just that Dream hit his head and had to stay in the hospital for a bit. 

Before they did that though, there was pancakes that needed consuming. Dream loaded his up with strawberries and powdered sugar, George got chocolate chips, and Sap just got plain butter. Dream snatched the syrup from Sap before he finished, snickering to himself. He drenched his breakfast in the sweet, sticky liquid, his mouth already watering. Sap stuck his tongue out at his friend, grabbing it back after he finished. George only put a little syrup on his pancakes, having already covered them in now melting chocolate. Dream looked over at his friend and laughed.

"You're gonna get diabetes if you eat that," he said, cutting up his own pancakes. George huffed and took a bite anyways. 

"Diabeteessss~" Dream said, teasing George. George lightly punched him in the shoulder and Dream laughed. He took a bite of his pancake and moaned. Hospital food had been so bland and boring and he had missed the taste of real food. Dream immediately began shoving more in his mouth, unable to help himself. 

This time George laughed. "Now who's gonna get diabetes?" Dream finished his pancakes and flipped George off. 

"I haven't eaten anything other than mashed potatoes and salad for a whole week, leave me alone," Dream leaned back in his chair, savoring the taste. "Thanks Sap, it was really good," he looked over at Sapnap, who had been silently watching their interaction.

"No problem Dream," Sap smiled, taking normal sized bites of his pancakes. Dream got up and started doing the dishes as Sap and George finished their food.

After they had put everything away, Dream hummed. "What do you guys wanna do today?" he asked, typing out a tweet on his phone to calm down his fans. As he hit send, George spoke up.

"We could play a game," he suggested, leaning against the wall. Dream hummed. Sapnap thought for a moment and then gasped.

"Let's build a pillow fort!" He said, grinning. Dream laughed, before pausing.

"Wait, you're serious?" Dream asked, looking at Sapnap. Sap nodded, bouncing on his heels.

"I wanna build a pillow fort," George said, smiling. He walked over to Sapnap and Dream.

"Pleasseeeee?" George asked, looking up at Dream with puppy eyes. Sapnap joined him, asking to build a pillow fort in an 'uwu' voice.

Dream shook his head, a smile growing on his face as well.

"Pillow fort it is," he replied, gently pushing George. "You guys suck." 

George pumped his fist and Sap cheered. They raced off towards the stairs, presumably going to get pillows and blankets. Dream walked over to the couch and plopped down. He pulled out his phone, seeing notification after notification pop up from Twitter. Dream scrolled through them, liking a couple replies and reading all of the love and support his fans were giving him. He smiled.

George and Sapnap came back down the stairs holding what Dream believed was every single pillow in the house. 

"PILLOW FORT!" George yelled, dumping them on the floor next to Dream. He jumped into the pile, laughing. 

"You two are such children," Dream said, shaking his head slowly. Sapnap stuck his tongue out at Dream, setting down his pillows and blankets. 

Dream got down on the ground with them and rolled George off the pillows. The British man protested, huffing at Dream. Dream rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at him.

Numerous pillow fights ensued as the trio attempted to make a pillow fort. By the end, there wasn't really a "fort", but more of a slightly neater pile of pillows with a blanket forming a roof over them. Dream stood up and put his hands on his hips, admiring their work. 

"I love it," he said proudly. George stuck his head out the entrance, and nodded.

"This is literally the best thing we've ever created. I'm gonna go get snacks," Sapnap stated, moving George to the side and crawling out of the fort. Dream went back inside and sat down. He scooted against the couch, humming. 

George paused for a few moments before moving to sit next to Dream. 

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, until Dream spoke up.

"Hey George?" he asked without looking towards the male in question.

"Yeah Dream?" George responded, looking up.

"I'm sorry," Dream said, closing his eyes. He could sense the air changing as George moved closer to him. He felt a hand on his arm and took a deep breath.

"Don't be," George responded, pulling Dream into a much needed hug. Dream sniffled, accepting the hug. 

When Sap came back, Dream and George were laughing over some meme on Dream's phone. 

It felt like things were normal, at least for a few seconds.


	10. imsorryimsorryimsorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> can i have a ride home? im at a party and i dont know anyone by carpetgarden
> 
> trigger warning:  
> panic attack

Dream went up the stairs, planning on changing into pajamas and possibly recording a video. A yawn escaped his lips, slowing his pace for a moment. He glanced into the guest bedroom as he passed it, seeing Sapnap scrolling through his phone. Sap looked up and Dream waved at him. Sap smiled and waved back before Dream continued moving. 

When he arrived at his door, he was surprised to find that it was ajar. Dream raised an eyebrow and silently pushed it the rest of the way open, peering inside.

Someone was sitting on his bed, holding his pillow close to their chest. Their shoulders shook, their face hidden in the grey fabric. As Dream inched closer, he recognized the person.

"George? What are you doing?" Dream asked, highly confused. George jumped back, the pillow flying from his grasp. His eyes were red and puffy, reminding Dream of the day he woke up. George frantically wiped his eyes and tried to seem calm. 

"Just, uh, looking for my shirt ahaha," he laughed nervously. Dream sighed and sat down on his bed.

"George, tell me the truth," Dream replied, looking into George's eyes. The smaller person looked down, seemingly unable to meet Dream's gaze. He sniffled, Dream watching as he hugged his knees to his chest. 

"I just..." George's voice trailed into a mumble, Dream unable to understand him.

"What?" Dream asked, scooting a little closer to George. 

"I just miss you, ok! I miss my best friend! I wake up every morning hoping that you'd be the same and everything would be back to normal, but it's not! Nothing's ever going to be the same and-" George cut off his words with a sob, burying his face in his knees. Clay was taken aback at George's outburst. He felt anger rising within him.

"It's not like I wanted to forget you! I can't help that my mind decided that you weren't important enough to keep! You aren't the one who had an entire chunk taken out of their life and I will never be able to get that back. How do you think that makes me feel, huh?" Clay yelled, surprising himself at the venom in his voice. George curled up tighter at Clay's words, acting like they were a physical thing attacking him. 

The door opened. George flinched.

"What's happening-"

"Go away, Nick. This doesn't include you," Clay said without looking up. He could feel the hurt and confusion in Sapnap's voice as he replied.

"But... I just..." Sapnap grew quiet and left, his footsteps heavy as he went back into his room.

Clay sighed and looked back over at George. Seeing him this broken down made Clay's heart break. 

"George, I'm sorry," Dream said softly, scooting closer to George. George whimpered, not looking up at Dream.

"I didn't mean it, please," Dream pleaded, guilt weighing down his mind. George shivered when Dream placed his hand on George's back. As he moved to hug George, his broken, frantic phrases hit Dream's ears.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

It sounded like the older male was a broken record set to repeat the same two words over and over.

Clay's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He immediately pulled the tight ball that was George onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him.

"Sh, sh, its okay, its okay," Dream said, trying his best to comfort his sobbing friend. He rubbed George's back, gently putting his head on George's shoulder. 

After a few moments of George still trapped in whatever hell was playing in his mind, Dream finally broke through. 

"C-Cl-ay-" George stuttered out, his accent coating the word. Dream gasped slightly as George suddenly wrapped himself around Dream, crying into his shirt. Dream went back to comforting George, hugging him tightly.

"George, I'm here, I'm here," Dream whispered, moving to run his hand through George's hair. His dark brown hair was incredibly soft. Some strands stuck to George's face, wet with tears.

They stayed like that for a while until George's sobs turned into sniffles and then into silence. Dream waited a few moments before pulling away from George.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, clearly concerned about his friend. He did just have a panic attack in front of Dream. 

George tilted his head up to look at Dream. His eyes sparkled with leftover tears, turning his chocolate pupils into a night sky. Dream felt his face heat up slightly. 

George nodded and buried his face back into Dream's chest. Unsure of what to do, Dream hugged George gently. He rested his head on George's, looking out over his room. His pillow was laying on the ground from where George had flung it in surprise earlier. He sighed, closing his eyes and nestling his chin into George's soft hair.

Now that it was silent, Dream could hear muffled voices coming from outside his room. He focused on them, wondering what was happening.

"-just think that you should calm down. I'm sure they're fine. It's not like Dream would actually hurt George, right?" A soft female voice played through a phone's speakers.

"I don't know Rose... Clay does seem different now. I mean, he hasn't made a single dad-joke since we got back. He used to make them almost constantly!" Sapnap spoke in a hushed tone, clearly not wanting Dream nor George to hear.

"Nick. George will be okay," 'Rose' interrupted him, reassuring Sapnap. 

Clay tightened his grip on George slightly. Why would he hurt him? What's up with the dad-jokes? Clay didn't remember ever really making dad jokes before the accident. 

Maybe it had something to do with George?

George squirmed a little, causing Dream to release him. He blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"Thanks, Dream," George said, unhooking himself from around Dream. Dream watched as he stood up and yawned.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," he softly said, moving towards the exit. Dream stood up, reaching out towards George's back to stop him-

Too late.

George opened the door, revealing Sapnap standing directly in front of it. 

"I'm gonna call you back Rose," he slowly said, face turning red from embarrassment. The female got cut off in the middle of her words as Nick hung up and cautiously slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Sapnap? What are you doing?" George asked, his voice still shaky from before. Nick's eyes flickered to Clay. 

"Um, nothing- I was just about to... Come check in on you two! Yeah, ahaha," Nick's excuse trailed off. "Are you OK?" He asked, voice coming back at full volume. George winced a little. 

"Yeah, I'm fine Sap. I'm just going to bed- I'd suggest you do the same," George said, gently pushing past Sapnap to get to his room. 

George closed the door behind him, the soft click of the lock echoing in the otherwise silent house.

Clay stood up.

"Clay-"

"No. We'll talk about it later Nick," Clay said, annoyed for a multitude of reasons. He closed the door, silencing Nick's protests.

Clay went back onto his bed, his brain trying to process everything that just happened. He closed his eyes and sighed, slowly bringing his arms to hug himself.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, didn't want to say it out loud-

He missed the feeling of George in his arms.

It's wrong. Clay shouldn't be feeling this way. Especially not after everything that just happened.

George was just so... No. This whole mess started because of his feelings. He'd try his best to ignore them until they went away.

Dream sighed, leaning back against his headboard. He should probably go change into PJs.

Dream got up, changed into pajamas, and slipped under his covers. He left the pillow George had cried into on the floor, planning on cleaning it the next day. 

The next day.

When he'd have to face the fact that Sapnap doesn't trust him.

When he'd have to accept that he caused George to have a panic attack.

Tomorrow Dream would have to talk to both of them.

Dream accepted the warm, comforting waves of sleep, hoping they'd hold him captive for longer than they ever had before.


	11. its okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> hold me tight or dont by fall out boy
> 
> this is an okay chapter  
> sorry about the sad shit last chapter

Dream rolled over in his bed, groaning. A ray of sunshine streamed in through his window at the perfect angle to cover his entire face. He frowned, rubbing his face. Dream curled into his soft blankets to escape the blinding sunlight.

After a few moments the 20 year old finally opened his eyes. Instead of his grey walls filling up his vision, he was met with a certain fuzzball. 

"Good morning Calli," he said, smiling. Calli purred in response, gracefully climbing onto Dream's chest and sitting down. She rubbed her face against Dream and he chuckled. 

"Alright, alright, I'll get up," Dream said, gently moving his cat off his chest as he sat up. He slipped out of bed and stretched.

As soon as he got dressed and left his room the scent of bacon and eggs hit his nostrils. He smiled, knowing that Sap was making breakfast again. 

Oh yeah.

Sapnap.

Who doesn't trust him, apparently.

Dream tried to push away those thoughts, similarly to how he pushed away Sapnap when all he was trying to do was help.

Clay slowly walked down the stairs, fear growing in the pit of his stomach. Would Nick still be upset with him? 

Questions bubbling in his mind, Clay stepped into the living room. His eyes immediately went to George, who was sitting on the couch. He was watching some Netflix show on the TV, leaning up against the side of the couch.

George looked up at Clay and smiled. "Good morning," He greeted, raising up a hand for a small wave. Dream matched George's energy with his wave, focused on the small bags under George's eyes. 

Dream went to sit down next to George, but was interrupted before he could move the pillow.

"Hey, Clay, can you come here?" Nick's voice rang out from the kitchen, where he was presumably making bacon and eggs. Clay stood up and warily glanced at George.

His best friend didn't meet his eyes, looking down and picking at his shirt. Clay took a deep breath and went to face Nick, trying to seem as calm as possible.

The scent of sizzling turkey bacon wafted into Clay's nostrils, making his stomach growl. He watched as Nick poked and prodded the thin slices of meat, wincing as a droplet of hot oil splashed up onto his finger.

"Hey Sap, what's up?" Clay asked, trying to keep the mood light by using nicknames. 

"I'm worried about you, Dream," Sapnap said, turning to face his friend. Concern shone in his dark blue eyes. Dream fidgeted with his hands, not wanting to meet his friend's eyes.

"Look, maybe it's better if George and I just go home-"

"No! I mean, no," Dream looked up, a spike of fear stabbing through his heart. He didn't want his friends to leave, he couldn't be alone- "I just had a bad night, it won't happen again," he promised, hoping that Sapnap would believe him.

Sap sighed and glanced over at him warily. He turned his attention to the bacon, flipping a few pieces. 

"Please just talk to me if you need someone. I'm here for you Clay," Sapnap said, looking up at him. Dream weakly smiled, relieved that his friends weren't leaving him. 

"Do you need any help...?" Dream asked. Sapnap shook his head. Dream hummed and finally left the kitchen.

He walked back over to the couch, going to sit down next to George like he had originally planned.

"Hey George," Dream said, looking over at his friend. George looked back at him, smiling.

"Hey Dream," the smaller man replied.

"How are you feeling?" Dream asked cautiously, feeling guilty over the events of the previous night. George looked back at the TV, growing quiet.

"I'm fine," he said, his voice low. He clearly didn't want to talk about it, but Dream needed to know if he was okay.

"George, tell me how you're really feeling, please," Dream said, pulling his legs up onto the couch. He wanted to know how badly he hurt his friend. How much he would have to do to regain his trust.

"Like I said before, I'm fine," George snapped, burying his face halfway in his knees. Dream felt his heart sink..

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that," Clay said, feeling even more guilty. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better...?" He asked, hoping George would have an answer.

He paused for a few moments before mumbling something into his knees.

"What?"

"- hug would be OK," George said a little bit louder, refusing to meet Dream's eyes.

Dream smiled, and pulled his friend into a hug. A faint pink settled across his cheeks as George moved to hug him back.

They stayed like that for a while, until Sapnap called them in for breakfast. 

Dream knew that no one was fully alright just yet, but it was a start. They made small talk over the bacon and eggs that Sap had made, laughing wholeheartedly at a few jokes.

Dream looked up at a giggling george and a chuckling Sapnap and smiled.

He'd win back his friends' trust if it was the last thing he did.

"-Dream, are you even listening to me?" George asked, waving his hand in front of Dream's face. Dream blinked, coming back out his thoughts.

"What?"

"Ugh, I was saying that we should do something today," George pouted, waving a piece of bacon around in his hand. Dream hummed.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked, curious. George huffed.

"Nothing! That's why I asked you guys," George whined. He took a bite out of the bacon. Dream thought for a moment.

"What about laser tag?" Sapnap asked, swallowing a bite of egg.

"Ooo that sounds fun," Dream said, perking up. George nodded, a sparkle in his eyes.

"Alright, we can see what laser tag places are nearby in a little bit," Sapnap said, gathering his dirty dishes, "after we clean up and get ready of course."

Dream agreed and finished his last slice of bacon, putting his utensils on top of his empty plate. He noticed that George was finished as well and picked up his dishes, setting them on top of his own. George mumbled a thank you, and pushed in his chair. 

The three of them worked together to clean up breakfast and put away the leftovers. Dream went upstairs to get ready for the day, humming to himself.

The first thing he did when he went into the room wasn't check his phone, or grab a jacket, or make his bed-

The first thing Dream did was go into his closet and take one of his hoodies out. It was an unreleased merch design. Dream got ready to go to George's room, when he realized something was off.

Dream held out the hoodie, studying the design. Where there had been Sapnap's fire there were a pair of glasses that Dream recognized from George's skin. He smiled , running his fingertips over the vinyl design.

He tucked the hoodie under his arm and walked out of his room, stepping into George's. Dream quickly threw the hoodie onto the bed, going back to the stairs as fast as he could. 

Dream passed by George on the stairs and flushed red, hoping he wouldn't say anything when he found the hoodie.

Sapnap was laying backwards on the couch when Dream got to the bottom of the stairs, scrolling through his phone. 

"You find a place yet?" He asked, leaning against the wall. Sap looked up and hummed.

"Yeah, they'll be open in about a half hour," Sap smiled, setting his phone down. Dream smiled back. "They've got a snack bar and an arcade too, so we can probably get some lunch while we're there," Sap said, moving to sit in a normal position. Dream walked over and sat on the floor, leaning up against the couch.

"Today's gonna be awesome."


	12. pew pew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> blood in the cut by k. flay
> 
> ive never done laser tag before lmao  
> also the three random characters are:  
> ziceissleepy  
> wholesomeships / uncanni  
> sammy

A few minutes later and the three of them were piling into the car. Sapnap slid into the driver's seat, Dream calling shotgun and George being forced to sit in the back.

Dream looked up into the rear-view mirror at George and smiled. The top of his hair barely reached the headrest.

"You're so short," Dream noted, which earned him a whine from George.

"That's just because you're so tall! Everyone is short compared to you," George whined, crossing his arms. 

"Nah, I think Dream's right. You're just short," Sap chimed in, chuckling a little as George got more and more annoyed. 

"Whatever," he stuck his tongue out, sliding down in his seat. Dream wheezed and turned his attention to the window.

A mosquito had landed on the glass, and Dream flicked at it to make it go away. The radio buzzed to life as the car started, playing some random pop station. Out of the corner of his eye he saw sap plug the aux cord into his phone.

A few moments later and a low, fast paced song started playing.

Sapnap hummed along to it, tapping his finger against the steering wheel in time to the beat.

Dream tuned in as they finally left the driveway, interested in the song.

"I need noise,"

Dream felt his phone buzz.

"I need the buzz of a saw,"

He pulled it out, curious to see who texted him.

"Need the crack of a whip,"

'2 unread messages from Georgey-poo'

Georgey-poo: hey  
Georgey-poo: turn around

"Need some blood in the cut,"

Dream did as George asked. George was sitting cross-legged in the seat, Dream's hoodie covering him like a dress.

The taller male felt his face heat up a bit but tried to calm himself down. Remember what happened last time he let his feelings get the best of him? 

George just looked so... Cute. No. He refused to think about his best friend like this any longer.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," George giggled, and Dream flushed red.

"O-oops," he stuttered, quickly turning back around and shrinking down in his seat. Sapnap chuckled from beside him.

What seemed like a minute of the three of them joking and talking together later, they finally arrived at the lazer tag arena.

Dream got out, stretching. He waited for George to get out and Sap to turn off the car before putting his hoodie up and speedwalking towards the neon splattered building.

"Hey! Wait up!" George's British accent made Dream's heart do a small flip and Dream cursed himself out internally as he slowed down. George caught up to him and panted a little, having had to run to get to his friend.

Dream snorted. "Someone's out of shape," he teased George, putting his hand on his hip. George quickly flipped him off, before putting his hands back on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.

"C'mon guys, we've only got a few minutes to get checked in and get suited up!" Sap yelled for them, already halfway across the parking lot. Dream sighed and speed walked, George groaning and running beside him.

"Last one to get there has to edit the next manhunt!" George challenged Dream, grinning as he sprinted towards the entrance.

Dream smirked and sprinted alongside him, easily overtaking the smaller male. George looked up at him in surprise, his mouth forming an 'o' shape. In response Dream turned around and blew him a kiss, turning around and running faster. He felt immediate regret for the action, but brushed it aside. 

George flipped Dream off, leaning forwards to go even faster. Dream chuckled, knowing that the smaller male could never overtake him.

Slowing down, Dream finally reached the entrance. George followed after him a few seconds later. 

"No," a deep breath, "fair!" George panted, his hands on his knees. He stood up and crossed his arms, glaring at Dream. Dream grinned back, reaching over to ruffle George's hair. George batted his hand away, sticking his tongue out at his friend. 

Sapnap huffed, drawing both of their attentions. "Took you two long enough," he said, the smile on his face giving away the falsehoods in his annoyed tone. 

"Let's go get our tickets," Sap said, opening the door to let them in.

Dream purchased the three of them tickets, despite his friends' protests. They entered the "armory", Dream's eyes immediately lighting up with the neon greens, blues, and pinks. He looked over at George, wondering what was going through his mind. 

"I call the dual pistols!" George exclaimed, quickly snatching a pair off the wall. Dream chuckled and opted for a the standard, high tech looking gun. He slipped on the chestplate, adjusting the straps so it sat comfortably on his body. 

He glanced over at Sap, who had gone for an arm gun thing. Whatever it was called, Dream watched as Sap strapped it onto his arm and shot George in the chest to test it out. George screeched, jumping back as his chestplate turned red and beeped loudly. 

"You two ready?" Dream asked, swinging his gun up to rest against his shoulder. Sap nodded and George hummed, smiling. 

The current game ended, everyone on the field heading towards the brightly lit exits. Dream watched as George bounced with excitement, itching to get out and play himself.

The lights dimmed, and a deep voice began counting down the start of the next game. Everyone on the side Dream was went up to the entrance, him and his friends following suit. They lined up, getting ready to plunge into the dark arena.

"3... 2... 1... GO!" the lights flashed, and Dream ran in. Immediately the sounds of lasers firing and people getting hit echoed off the walls, covering up Dream's footsteps as he ran to the side. He could sense George and Sap right behind him, and came to a stop behind what seemed to be an abstract tree. 

"Okay, plan is to stick together, right?" Dream said, meeting their eyes the best he could in the dim lighting. 

"Yeah, let's not split u-" Sapnap was cut off mid-sentence as a laser shot out from the darkness and hit his chest plate.

Dream's head immediately whipped towards where the laser came from. He scanned the darkness for a second or two, before his eyes settled on who appeared to be the shooter.

A tallish, magenta haired girl was crouched next to a neon orange speckled boulder, a pistol styled gun in her hand. Her chestplate seemed too big on her, going about halfway down her lighter pink dress. She raised the gun up again, aiming at someone across the arena. A second person ran to where she was sitting, the black armor barely hiding the glow of their light grey NASA hoodie. Short purple hair glowed bright blue in the light, their face hidden in the shadows of their hood.

The two seemed to converse for a moment before the hoodied person whipped out a sleek laser gun that looked like it came straight out of an alien movie. They aimed straight at Dream, who barely had a second to dodge before they tried to hit him. 

"I'm gonna go check out the snacks, see y'all in a bit!" Sap said, having to shout over the ruckus in order to be heard. Dream nodded, waving a goodbye. 

Now it was just the two of them.

Dream looked over at George, who was recklessly shooting into the crowd. He held back a laugh, hearing George's panicked screams when he nearly got hit. Dream peeked around the corner of the tree, over at the group.

By now, another person had joined the pair. This person had a headband with mouse ears and a crown nestled into her messy brown hair, her pink and blue shirt barely glowing in the blacklight. She wielded dual pistols like George, the smooth plastic tinted a shade of blue. 

Dream raised up his gun, closing one eye to aim it towards the little group. The pink haired girl looked up and noticed just as Dream hit the trigger, scooting back as her chestplate signaled that she was out.

Dream pumped his fist in the air, the counter on his gun changing to a one instead of a zero. 

"George, we should move to somewhere with better cover," Dream tapped George on the shoulder, getting his attention. George jumped, before turning to face Dream.

"What?" He asked, flushing pink. Dream repeated his question, pointing towards a nearby group of boulders. George nodded, and the two got ready to run. Dream went first, dashing across the no-man's land. He glanced over at the group of kids and saw the pink haired girl aim towards George. 

Without thinking, Dream reached back and grabbed George by the hoodie, yanking him forwards and behind the boulders. The laser barely missed it's target, hitting the wall where George had been standing.

The pair tumbled to safety, Dream pairing George's squeal with an 'oof'.

Dream sighed in relief. He tried to sit up only to realise the position they had landed in.

His legs were intertwined with George's, the latter pressed up against the smooth plastic rock. Their faces were an inch apart, Dream getting a close up of George's eyes. He felt himself getting lost in the soft brown hues, his face heating up. 

George's cheeks lit up with a similar red hue as he looked right back into Dream's eyes. 

For a moment, nothing else mattered but the quickening heartbeat in Dream's chest and the cause sitting in front of him.

"GAME OVER! TEAM BLUE WINS!" The announcement paired with the lights suddenly turning on startled Dream.

George broke their trance and scrambled to untangle himself from Dream, Dream hurrying to do the same.

"Haha, t-thanks," George stuttered, immediately scooting to the other end of the boulder. Dream felt his heart sink for a half second, before he saw George reach over to pick up his pistols.

"N-No problem," Dream replied, looking around for his own gun. He found it and pulled it towards him, standing up. He reached a hand down to help George up, his face still red from their moment.

Dream and George walked in comfortable silence towards the snack bar, Dream admiring the scenery. 

Sapnap waved them over, having reserved a small table for the three of them.

"I'm craving chips right now," George said, pulling out his chair and sitting down. Dream sat down, agreeing.

"So, fries it is?" Sap asked, tilting his head the slightest bit. 

"Mhm," Dream hummed, getting comfortable in his chair.

"OK, I'm gonna get a sprite too," Sap said, getting up to go get their food.

"Ooo, can you grab me one too?" George asked, perking up a little. Sapnap smiled.

"Sure, you want anything to drink Dream?" Sap said, looking over at him.

"Nah, I'm good," Dream said. He watched as Sapnap walked off to buy them food. 

"So, uh," George's voice caught Dream's attention so he turned to face his friend.

"When do you wanna record the next manhunt? I've got to put out something so my fans don't get too worried about me," Dream quickly changed the subject, not wanting to address what happened.

George seemed to catch the hint. "I mean, we can probably play later tonight," George said, resting his head in his palm, "if that's fine with you of course."

"Sounds good to me," Dream smiled, leaning back a little. "Don't forget that you have to edit it," Dream added on. George groaned.

The rest of their time spent at the laser tag arena was nothing but laughter and fun. Thankfully no more weird moments happened, but Dream did catch George sneaking peeks at him a couple times.

When they left, it was mid-afternoon. The air was cool, a small breeze flowing through Dream's hair. He paused, savoring the moment. 

"Hurry up Dream, I'm gonna miss my show!" George yelled, already nearly at the car. Dream laughed, shaking his head. 

Today had been a good day and Dream was grateful for it.

As Dream approached the car, a familiar feeling ran its way down his spine. He shivered, looking behind him. 

"You good?" Sapnap asked, noticing Dream's change in mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dream brushed it aside and smiled, opening the door to get in. He looked out the window, hoping that the sinking feeling in his gut was just from the low-quality nachos he ate earlier. 


	13. crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> #grownupz by fein
> 
> can't remember what this chapter was about lol

When the trio arrived home, the first thing Dream did was go to his room. They had spent a few more hours out, just driving around and stopping by random stores until it was dinnertime. As for dinner, they ate only the finest Bojangles fast food. 

Dream speed-walked up the stairs, looking down at his feet to make sure that he didn't knock over anything. 

Shutting the door behind him, Dream flopped backwards onto his bed.

As soon as he closed his eyes, images of George flashed through his mind.

George wearing his hoodie.

George pinned against the wall, his eyes big as he looked up into Dream's.

George laughing while flicking chips at Dream.

George sticking out his tongue at Dream over some stupid pun he made while eating a biscuit.

Dream groaned, opening his eyes again.

"What the hell," he muttered, staring up at his ceiling.

Light streamed in from his blinds, headlights from a car passing by creating stripes on his walls. 

He rolled over, burying his face in the sheets.

Dream knew what was happening, he knew why his heart raced everytime George looked in his direction, why whenever their bodies brushed against each other it sent an electric shock through his soul. 

Though Dream's memories of his best friend had been erased, his heart had stayed tracked on the brunet like a compass.

Dream loved it.

No, Dream hated it.

Right?

Dream didn't know what to think. This entire mess had started because of his feelings towards George. 

Dream buried his face in his sheets, just wanting to sleep. He hesitantly got out of bed, trudging over to his dresser and putting on pajamas. Dream crawled back into bed, curling into the sheets.

Maybe if he went to sleep, these stupid feelings would dissappear?

Spoiler warning-

They didn't.

When he woke up, Dream was just as much in love with George as before he went to sleep. 

The next few days went normally, the three friends spending their time playing video games or generally just enjoying each others company.

Every single day Dream woke up and every single day he was just as infatuated with George as the last.

Today started out like any other, who knew that it would end the way it did?

He squinted in the bright sunlight streaming in through his window, stretching underneath his covers. Dream sat up, feeling his blankets slide off of him. 

After getting dressed, Dream sleepily made his way down the stairs and into the living room. The scene was more or less the same as the day before, with Sapnap in the kitchen and George on the couch. 

Dream made his way over to George, plopping down onto the beige leather sofa beside him. He pulled a fluffy pillow close to himself, yawning for what felt like the millionth time this morning. hugging it to his chest.

Yawning again, Dream looked up at the TV.

George had been watching the news, some story about a new type of vr that's supposedly "fully immersive". That could be a cool video idea, " Minecraft but it's real life". The title could use some work, but oh well.

"What do you wanna do today?" Dream asked, looking over at George. George glanced over at him and then back at the TV.

"I dunno, what do you wanna do?" George's British accent was thick with sleep. Dream smiled at how adorable he sounded.

Realising what he was doing, he quickly looked away. 

"I dunno," Dream started to mimic his friend's voice but stopped, "Maybe the beach?" 

George opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off. 

"Breakfast is ready!" Sapnap called out from the kitchen, walking over to the table with an already full plate.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to 'serve others before you serve yourself'?" Dream nagged, teasing Sap. Sap mocked Dream, copying his words. Dream gasped, dramatically slapping a hand against his chest.

"Rude," he said, huffing and going off to get his food. George laughed, having watched the two interact while making his plate.

After breakfast, Dream contemplated what they were going to do that day.

"Hm, there is a beach near here. I haven't gone to it in a long time, but from what I remember it's pretty nice," Dream said, slipping his plate into the dishwasher.

"Ooo, a beach trip sounds fun," George replied, rinsing his utensils off in the sink.

"I'd be down for that," Sapnap hummed, sitting on top of the counter. He swung his legs back and forth, his shoes lighting up every time they collided with the dark wood cabinets.

"I can't believe you still wear light up skechers," George said, noticing the flashes of color.

"Pfft, seriously Sapnap? What are you, twelve?" Dream teased him, snickering at the younger man's childish fashion sense.

"Hey! Don't make fun of my skechers! I think they're cool, alright? Plus its a really good song," Sap huffed, mumbling the last bit under his breath.

Dream wheezed as Sapnap's cheeks grew red. 

"Anyways, when are we gonna go?" George changed topics, leaning up against the fridge. He glanced over at Sapnap before settling his gaze onto Dream.

"What about after lunch?" Dream suggested, putting his hands into his pockets. "It won't be as crowded."

"Yeah, and it won't be as hot," Sapnap added on. 

George hummed, "Sounds good! I'm going to go take a shower, see ya in a bit," George waved goodbye, leaving Sapnap and Dream alone in the kitchen.

"So... About those skechers-"

"Shut up."

After a delicious lunch of Cheeto puffs and McDonalds, it was time to get ready for the beach.

Dream slipped into some swim shorts and was about to grab his shirt when someone knocked on his door.

"Hey," he said, opening the door. George stood in the doorway, his eyes immediately flicking to Dream's bare chest and then off to the side.

"U-Uh, I was wondering if I could borrow a pair of swim trunks...? I didn't bring any," George's face turned pink, the younger male locking his gaze on his feet.

Dream blushed. "Sure, I probably have some old ones that'll fit you in my dresser," he said, leaving the door open so George could follow him in. 

Dream went over to his dresser and rummaged around, trying to find an old pair of swim shorts that he had yet to throw out. 

"Here, you can keep them too if you want, they're too small for me anyways," Dream turned around to give George the shorts.

George was sitting on his bed, looking over at the pillow he had held before Dream became a nightmare a few days before.

Dream bit the inside of cheek.

"George," he said, moving to sit beside his best friend, "I'm really sorry for yelling at you..."

George sighed, looking away.

"I forgive you Dream, I know you didn't mean it," George's lips turned up at the corners, a reassuring smile settling across his lips. Dream couldn't help but smile back.

"So uh, here you go," Dream handed George the shorts.

"Oh, thanks," George said, taking the shorts. 

"Pfft, dinos?" George laughed, looking at the pattern of the swim trunks. Dream flushed from embarrassment.

"Shut up, they're like 3 years old," he said, gently shoving his friend. George laughed in response, setting them down beside him.

"Hey," Dream started, wanting to ask something that had been bugging him since he first looked back at all of their videos in the hospital.

"Do you think we should bring snacks?" he ended, switching subjects. He should bring it up another time. 

George hummed, "Yeah, probably. I'm gonna go get changed, see you in a bit Dream!" He stood up and stretched.

Then, as soon as he was there he was gone. 

Dream sighed, flopping back onto his bed. He looked over at the pillow, hesitantly reaching out to grab it.

He pulled it close to his chest, staring up at his ceiling. 

How much longer would he have to endure the pain of loving George but knowing that he would never love him back? 

It felt like an icicle slowly stabbing its way through his heart, the cold spreading across his body.

Dream didn't want to think about it anymore, instead he was going to go to the beach and have a good time with his friends.


	14. saltwater sweets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> death bed by powfu
> 
> extra characters are:  
> luno  
> navii  
> avocado  
> yuwu

The bright, Florida sun was hot on Dream's back as he helped George and Sapnap unload the car. He reached in and grabbed the bag that held their sunscreen, snacks, and towels.

"The water's gonna feel so good," Sap said, closing the trunk after the last of their items were taken out.

Dream agreed, slipping the strap over his shoulder. He adjusted his feet in his flip flops and began walking, humming softly to himself.

"Don't stay away, don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head,"

Dream softly sang, kicking a pebble in front of his foot.

As the group walked, the beach around them was full of life. Dream looked over to his right, where a wedding was taking place. The couple looked cute together. One of the newly weds was wearing a crisp dull purple suit and a flower crown that matched the colors of the flag hanging on his wall at home. The other was wearing an elegant, typical wedding dress, a pastel rainbow flower crown nestled into their dark brown hair. They kissed, cheers and claps erupting from the guests.

Off to his left a young looking girl had set up a hot dog stand. Dream opened his mouth to tell his friends that they should get hot dogs for dinner from her, when he noticed a boy sneaking up behind her. The kid pushed some blond locks of hair out of his face before-

"Oh my god did that kid just light that hot dog stand on fire???" Dream gasped, his hands flying up to his mouth. Sapnap turned around to look, his eyes widening.

"LUNO I SWEAR TO GOD!" the girl screamed, quickly grabbing a fire extinguisher from inside of the cart and dousing the flames. "Luno" fell over laughing, only to get sprayed by the extinguisher.

"Come on guys! You're so slow!" George called out to them, already a few paces in front of them. Dream shook his head, before running to catch up with his short friend.

Weirder things have happened in Florida.

Dream led his friends to a nice shady spot under a tree. They were lucky it wasn't taken yet, seeing as most of the good spots had already been claimed with towels or bags or children.

"Ah crap, I think I left my phone in the car," Sapnap said right as he was about to sit down.

"Dummy," Dream replied, chuckling. He passed Sapnap the keys, before plopping down on the blanket George had spread out. 

"Hey, can you get my back?" George asked, holding out the sunscreen to Dream.

Dream looked up and was met with a bare-chested George. A small wave of deja-vu came over him, most likely from that dream he had had about the convention.

"S-Sure," Dream tried his best to calm down, feeling his face already start to heat up.

Dream gently began massaging the sunscreen into George's back, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. This is something bros do all the time, right? He didn't have to say no homo, right??

"Thanks!" George smiled, turning around to face Dream when he finished. 

"Do you want me to get yours?" he asked, taking back the tube. Dream paused for a moment before shrugging.

"Why not," he said, taking off his shirt and turning around. The sunscreen was cold on his back, causing small shivers to run down his spine. 

It took all of Dream's might to not focus on George's surprisingly delicate touch, or the way his hands fit perfectly in the divots of his shoulder blades. 

As soon as the warmth of George's hands disappeared Dream missed them. 

"Thanks," Dream said, moving to cover the rest of himself up with sunscreen.

"No problem," George said, humming softly.

Wind ruffled the pair's hair, the salty ocean air tickling their noses and filling Dream with a sense of calm. The beach was his happy place, somewhere he could go and forget about the world for a moment.

Nothing really mattered except the feeling of sand in his hands and cold saltwater lapping at his toes. No one cared how many followers he had, or when he was going to stream or upload next. Dream could just be himself with no wires attached.

George reached over Dream for a bag of chips, stretching his arm out. His other arm gave out and George fell, ending up laying across Dream's lap. George's face was bright red as he frantically moved to get off of Dream, flustered apologies flying out of his mouth like fish swimming away from a shark.

Dream laughed, quieting George's panicked "sorry"s. 

"S'okay," he said, handing George the chips he had been reaching for. George muttered a thanks, opening them and shoving some into his mouth.

Dream stretched and stood up, getting ready to go for a swim.

"Wait-"

Dream turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you wanna build a sandcastle?" George looked up at Dream, his eyes hopeful. Dream sighed.

"You're such a child George," Dream laughed, shaking his head a little, "Of course." 

George grinned, and scrambled to his feet. He walked beside Dream, the two of them heading down to the waterside.

Dream began scooping up sand with his hands, making a pile. 

"This would probably be easier with a bucket," he noted, making a sort of base lump out of the sand he had gathered.

George hummed in agreement. Dream looked over to see what he was doing, 

George was collecting shells, his hand carefully clutching about seven or so of the small homes. He gently moved the sand to the side with his free hand. George let the waves aid in his search, Dream watching as the salty water washed away some of the wet sand revealing worn down pebbles and sparkling seashells.

"What are you doing... Step dream...?" George asked, not really paying attention to what he was saying.

"Wh- whAt!?" Dream stuttered, blushing bright red. George flushed, realising what he said. He laughed, throwing his head back. The clout glasses that had previously been resting on top of his head fell down onto his face, covering his eyes. 

Dream began wheezing, having to sit down to catch his breath. 

"S-Step dream?!" He asked between breaths. George started up again with a fit of giggles, which caused Dream to start wheezing again and, well, the cycle continued until Sapnap finally returned.

"Yo I'm back," he said, looking up from his phone at Dream and George. Dream tried to calm down by taking deep breaths, but it was hard when George's laughter was so contagious. 

"What did y'all do while I was gone?" Sap raised an eyebrow. 

"Build a, wheeze, sandcastle," Dream said, waving a hand towards their now even more deformed lump of wet sand. Sapnap shook his head, a smile on his face. 

Dream wiped the small tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his wrist, being careful to not get any bits of sand in his eyes.

"Oh man," he chuckled, moving to sit up straight, "George you're such an idiot."

George lightly pushed him, laughing, "No you're an idiot."

"You're both idiots, now can we have some lunch before I starve to death?" Sapnap said, getting out their sandwiches. Dream looked over at George and held back another wheeze, getting up and going to get a sandwich.

The trio did their best to enjoy the time they had together, until the sun grew close to the horizon. 

Something came up and Sap had to go, telling his friends to call him when they planned on coming home. 

Just like that, Dream and George were left alone.


	15. sunset kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song inspo:  
> fucked up by young rising sons
> 
> this chapter is cute  
> kinda short, but cute

"Hey, I see a dock over there! We should go watch the sunset!" George suggested, grabbing ahold of Dream's hand and tugging him towards the creaky wooden pier before he had time to protest.

Dream looked down at their intertwined hands and blushed. Just friends, just friends, just friends. That's all they were. This was a platonic interaction.

Did he really want it to be though?

Yes. Yes he did.

Dream was pulled out of his thoughts by George's hand falling out of his. 

Come back-

A spike of fear caused his heartbeat to accerlate, as he reached out to grab ahold of George's hand again out of some internal instinct. Dream managed to stop himself in time though, letting his arm swing back to his side.

That was weird.

Dream shrugged it off, feeling the fear dissapate as he sat down next to his friend. 

"So, thoughts on Florida?" Dream asked George, turning towards him.

"It's so, so much hotter here than back home. I honestly love it, can I come live here with you?" George turned to face him as well, tilting his head. Dream laughed.

"Sure, only as long as you bring Cat too," Dream grinned, leaning back a little. George giggled, looking back at the incoming sunset.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, George spoke up.

"Hey Dream?" he softly said, not facing his friend.

"What's up?" Dream answered, glancing over at him.

George's face was hidden behind his hair, Dream resisting the urge to brush his forest brown locks out of his eyes. 

"I..." George took a deep, pained breath, and Dream furrowed his eyebrows with worry.

"If you don't want to you don't have to say i-"

"I love you."

Dream looked over at George, shock on his face. 

"George-"

"Please, I know it feels wrong after everything that happened, but just- I need you, okay?" George's voice shook slightly, his brown eyes meeting Clay's green ones. 

The scent of saltwater was strong on the breeze that gently ruffled George's dark brown locks. 

As the sun set on the horizon, so did Clay's nerves.

He had a choice to make, one that could change his fate for better or for worse.

"George," Dream started, watching as George's attention focused solely on him. Dream looked out over the water, seeing the blue shift its hue to match the darkening sky. 

It felt like the world was holding its breath, waiting to see whether these two fiery, bright stars would collide paths to make something beautiful and loud and just perfectly them.

"I think I need you too."

Dream felt a hand tentatively slide into his and looked over at George. His heartbeat raced as he saw George's lips twitch up in a smile. It slightly bothered him that he couldn't tell whether it was joy or despair that made George's eyes glimmer in the moonlight, but he loved the way they twinkled either way.

Suddenly, the air around the pair changed as Dream turned to face George. He felt his cheeks burn bright red as he noticed just how close George's face was to his.

Would it be okay if he closed the gap? Or would that be taking it too fast? What if he scared George away by trying to kiss him right there, before they had even figured out any relationship stuff or what if-

Dream's thoughts trailed off as George giggled.

"You look so cute when you're thinking about stuff," George said, making Dream lose all train of thought.

"Uh," Dream tried to think of something to respond with, but failed.

"So, um, do you want to kiss...?" George looked down at their hands, his face just as flushed as Dream's. Dream was surprised, not expecting George to want to kiss him too.

"Sure! I mean- uh-" George laughed again, as Dream stuttered over his words. It felt like they were teenagers who had snuck out of their homes in the dead of night, making up for what they lacked in relationship skills in burning passion and deep infatuation. 

In an instant Dream's world went from dark as something soft pressed against his lips to an explosion of color.

Before he could react, the intoxicating feeling of George's lips against his was gone and had been replaced with the cool ocean air.

Dream licked his lips, blinking as he came down from his high.

"Woah."

"Woah indeed," George said, seemingly equally taken aback. They paused for a moment, the night silent save for the sound of waves crashing against the shoreline and sirens screaming in the distance. 

Dream grinned, all of his guilt and sadness and anger dissolving as the butterflies and fireworks George set off inside of him replaced them.

"Wanna do that again?"

"Hell yeah."


	16. twenty one questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song inspo:  
> stolen dance by milky chance
> 
> i am not asking you the questions in this chapter.
> 
> dream is asking george twenty one questions.

1\. What's your favorite color?

After spending another half hour together on the dock, George gave in and agreed that they should call Sapnap to come pick them up.

As much as Dream would've loved to stay, Sap was probably worried about his friends. After all, the last time he saw them alone together Dream had... Nope. He didn't want to think about that.

1- Hmm, probably blue. After all it's one of the only colors I can see, haha.

When Sap pulled up Dream reluctantly got into the passenger seat. What he really wanted to do was sit in the back next to his possible new boyfriend, but that would've raised a few questions that Dream wasn't ready to answer.

He drummed his fingers against the window, stealing glances at George every now and again. Whenever he got caught he quickly looked back outside, his face turning a light shade of pink.

2\. Hm... Wait, you're colorblind? What type?

Thoughts swirling in his head, Dream barely noticed when the car rumbled to a stop. He silently got out, gently slipping back into his mind.

That is until he felt a hand brush against his own. 

Startled, Dream looked down at George. The shorter man grinned up at him. 'Let's talk,' his glimmering brown eyes said as they quickly flicked towards the house and back again.

2- Protanopia. I can really only see blue and yellow, but I'm getting some glasses soon.

Once inside, the three of them made small talk before George and Dream went upstairs to take showers and change back into normal clothes.

On the way up, when he was sure Sapnap wouldn't see them, Dream slipped his hand into George's. He felt George's hand move to hold his back and a small smile stretched across his lips. His heartbeat flurried like a dandelion's seeds in the breeze as he thought about what they were, what they had been, and what they could be.

3\. Oh, so my skin doesn't look green for you? Huh. Anyways, question three... What's your full name?

Instead of letting go of his hand and the both of them going into their separate rooms George pulled Dream into his room.

The brunette sat down on the messy bed and patted the blankets beside him, a lopsided smile on his face. Dream tentatively sat down, his legs cold from his damp swimsuit.

3- George James Maidson. Weird last name, I know.

"So," George started, looking down at their hands, "what are we?" 

"I guess we're boyfriends, unless you don't want to be-" Dream answered after a few moments, before being cut off.

"No! I mean, I want to," a pause, "I want to go out with you."

Dream looked over at George, immediately noticing the hesitation in his voice. His best friend, maybe even boyfriend was looking down at the ground, his face and ears bright pink.

"Are you sure? I'm serious, I don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with," Dream said, gently taking George's hands into his own. George looked up and met his gaze. Something was behind those hypnotizing chocolate eyes. Dream just didn't understand what and he wouldn't, not for a long time.

4\. No, I like it. Though, I think George James Anderson would suit you a lot better. What do you think?

"Yeah, I'm sure," George said, his lips moving up in a smile. Dream smiled back.

"So, dearest boyfriend of mine, how are we gonna tell Sapnap?" Dream asked, knowing that they're going to have to come out to their best friend at some point. George chuckled a little at the nickname, before sighing.

4- Pfft, stop. Wait a year or four and then you can ask me that.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just be upfront about it?" George leaned his head against Dream's shoulder, running his thumb over Dream's knuckles. 

Dream thought for a moment. "Maybe we should. I'm just a little scared of how he'll respond, you know?"

5\. Hah, okay. Cats or dogs?

"Mhm, I'm sure it'll be fine though. I mean, when has he not been supportive?" George reassured Dream.

"True," Dream gave in, sighing and looking towards the door. He thought about all of the times in the past where Sapnap had been there for him. 

Whenever Dream had had a bad day and wanted nothing more in the world to scream at the sun Sapnap had been there to calm him down.

When Dream first started out his YouTube channel and wasn't getting the views he had hoped he would Sap reassured him and moviated him to keep going.

The night that Dream had broken up with his first girlfriend Sapnap stayed on call with him until the sun came up.

5- Definitely cats. What kind of a question even is that?

Dream wondered how many of those memories George had been cut out of.

6\. I don't know, how am I supposed to come up with 16 more questions?! 

He was brought out of his thoughts by George moving away from him.

"We should probably go take showers and get dressed," the British man stood up and stretched. 

"We probably should, my butt is freezing," Dream said, flopping back onto his bed. George shook his head and quietly giggled.

"See you in a few Dreamy poo~"

"Ge- I- Never say that again-"

16- For the tenth time, no I don't wanna listen to "I wanna see some ass" with you.

Dream toweled off, wet strands of dirty blond hair falling in his eyes and dripping onto the floor. He closed the shower door, wrapping the towel around his waist.

Though muffled, Dream could hear the TV running downstairs. From what he could understand it was some sort of reality TV show. Lots of yelling and crashing noises with cheesy suspenseful music in the background. He shook his head softly, knowing that it was probably George watching that trash.

17\. Come on, it's a great song! Please?

Dream quickly speedwalked to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. 

He got dressed, slipping on a pair of boxers and a loose fitting T-shirt. Running a hand through his damp hair, Dream glanced over at his desk. 

The carpet still had imprints in it from his old chair. Dream still had no idea what had happened to it. He noticed the stains from where George and Sapnap had poorly scrubbed out the blood for him while he was in the hospital stood out like a sore-thumb. 

17- No, a billion times no. C'mon Dream, ask me something else.

Dream ignored it, turning his head the other way. He stretched, feeling the bones in his back pop. 

The tired young man finally left his room, going down the steps to meet his best friend and his... boyfriend.

Dream had yet to fully settle into using that word when talking about George, but god did it feel good.

18\. Fine... How did we first meet?

When the living room came into view Dream was greeted with the sight of George and Sapnap chilling on the couch.

"Hey." Sap looked up and smiled, George doing the same. 

"Hey Dream, George was just saying you guys had something to tell me," Sapnap said, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. 

Dream looked over at George who winked.

18- Oh, um... We were both developers on Skeppy's server and we just sort of became friends from that. This is actually the first time we've been together in person.

"Um, yeah... George, do you wanna say it?" Dream shuffled awkwardly on his feet, quickly putting the job onto his boyfriend to come out to their best friend. 

"Chicken. I'll do it," George teased Dream, before turning towards Sapnap.

"So, this might seem like it came out of the blue, but Dream and I are... together," George said, his face turning a light shade of pink.

"Pfft, I'm not dumb. What did you guys really wanna tell me?" Sapnap laughed. Dream looked at George, who looked at the ground.

Sap looked between the two and suddenly it clicked.

"No, you're serious? But- that just doesn't make sense! Why? I mean, I'll support you guys all the way, but I'm just confused," Sapnap's eyebrows furrowed, confusion contorting his features as he struggled to understand what was happening.

19\. Huh. Well, how many questions do I have left?

The three of them sat in awkward silence for a few moments while Dream and George attempted to come up with an answer to Sap's question.

"Well," George started, breaking the silence, "Dream's feelings towards me didn't go away since the accident for some reason." Dream listened to him, though he was watching Sapnap's reaction.

"And over the last few weeks, I started getting feelings for him too, and we ended up here," George finished, his eyes flicking between Dream and Sapnap.

"Oh," Sap softly said after a few seconds.

19- Two now. 

"I think I just need some time to think about some stuff, uh, I'll see you guys in a bit," Sap stood up and went up the stairs, leaving Dream and George to watch him go.

20\. What the frick. Whatever. How long have you known you liked guys?

"Did we mess up?" Dream said, worry laced in his voice, his heart beat loud in his ears. He sat down, the spot where Sapnap had been sitting still warm.

"No, I think he's just unsure. I mean, this really did come out of nowhere," George placed a reassuring hand on Dream's shoulder, making Dream feel a little better.

"Yeah, you're right," Dream said, calming down.

20- Not for long, about 3 years. I met someone and he really changed me for the better. I guess before that I just hadn't found the right guy.

"Well, what do you wanna do now?" 

"Ooo, let's play a game!"

"Like Minecraft?"

"No stupid, like 21 questions. You ask me a random 21 questions and then I ask you 21 questions!"

"Hah, sounds good."

Clay took a deep breath, the one question he really wanted answered on the tip of his tongue. He could feel George's eyes on him, could practically taste the curiosity radiating off of him.

"When Sap told me what happened the day of the accident, something stood out to me," Clay began, watching as the gears in George's mind turned like the hands of a clock. 

His chocolate brown eyes widened as he seemed to realise what Clay was going to ask about, his face paling as well.

Clay closed his eyes, ripping off the bandaid that was this burning question he had had boiling inside of him since he first went through his phone in the hospital, "From what I've watched and read, it was normal for us to say stuff like "I love you" to each other jokingly. 

"Why'd you get so worked up about it then?"

"I..." George trailed off, clearly at a loss for words.

"I was upset. I'm sorry. I had been crushing on you for the longest time, and had just gotten over my feelings for you, and just hearing you say those words, even jokingly just hurt. I couldn't handle it anymore. Then, when you spammed my dms and reacted the way you did, I knew it wasn't a joke and it just... I didn't know how to feel," George said, causing Clay to fall silent. 

This whole time, they had been dancing around each other. 

This whole thing could've been easily avoided if Clay had just confessed earlier.

Clay would still have his memories, and be with George.

He felt like screaming.

"I'm sorry George," Clay apologized instead.

"Don't be. It was my stupid feelings that got the best of me. It's in the past now, and all that matters now is that I love you," George smiled and opened his arms for a hug.

Clay didn't deserve it, but he leaned in and hugged George back. 

Now that the truth was out in the open, all they had left was to see what Sapnap would say.


	17. i love you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song inspo:  
> break the distance by ashton
> 
> this is a good-ish chapter

Sapnap had a lot to say, apparently.

When Dream went down in the morning to see the usual sight of Sapnap in the kitchen and George on the couch, he wasn't surprised.

What he was surprised by however was when Sap suddenly stood up at the breakfast table.

"Okay, look. I know you two are in love or something, but I just want to know what happened," he paused, sitting back down, "if that's okay. Its just one second George seems like he's really really upset at you and the next you're sucking face or whatever."

Clay blinked, trying to process what had happened.

"Nick-" George's voice cracked, shutting him up immediately.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Nick's eyes shot to his food, his dull green pupils darkened with guilt. 

"Nick, it's alright," Clay began, choosing his words carefully, "anyone in your position would be confused."

Nick looked up, his eyes a little lighter. Clay took that as a sign to keep going.

"Apparently, even though my memories of George are gone, my feelings for him never left," Clay said, glancing over at his silent partner. George smiled a little when he caught Clay looking at him.

"Oh. What about George?" Nick tilted his head a little, still confused.

Clay bit his lip, turning his attention to George for him to talk. His expression changed from a smile to mild shock once he realised. George's eyes flicked down to his lap, clearing his throat as he tried to figure out what to say.

“Well, um..”

George squirmed, Clay watching as his boyfriend struggled to put his feelings into words.

"Nevermind, you don't have to tell me," Nick stopped George, the latter sighing in relief. 

"Thanks," George muttered, rubbing his arm. 

Over breakfast the three of them talked about what would happen, how this would affect their online selves, etc. Admittedly, it was nice to just sit down and talk with his two best friends. Even though the conversation started out awkward, it had settled into an enjoyable comfortableness. 

The rest of the day went by smoothly, with Sapnap eventually accepting that Dream and George were together (only when they confirmed that their relationship was healthy and consentual, since he did have some doubts) and that he wouldn't be kicked out of the dream team. They watched a movie, played some video games, and had fun together.

Dream sighed, leaning back against the couch. They had just finished a horror movie, Sapnap having gone to make popcorn for the the next one.

"I can't believe you guys are leaving in two days," Dream broke the quiet, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

George flopped sideways, leaning on Dream's shoulder. "I know, I wish I could stay for longer," he hummed, wrapping his arms around Dream's.

Sapnap plopped down on Dream's other side, biting the inside of his cheek.

"I would totally stay, but I've got school ya know? I'm already so behind.." 

"Maybe we could meet up at vidcon next year or something?" Dream glanced between the two, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

George nodded and Sapnap hummed. 

"That would be nice," George smiled, cuddling into Dream's side. Dream sighed, content.

Maybe losing his memories wasn't that bad. After all, who knows if he would've gotten with George if not for his amnesia? 

He did wish he could've gotten his memories back though. It would be nice to know all of their inside jokes, and have their relationship really feel like they've known each other for years.

And they did make the most of those two days.

They livestreamed, convinced Dream to do a face reveal (their fanbase absolutely lost it when Dream posted a selfie of the three of them together), and just enjoyed each other's company.

All good things must come to an end though, and it was time for George and Sapnap to leave.

They exchanged heartwarming goodbyes, laughed, tried to plan when they would meet up next, and as soon as they had arrived George and Sapnap were gone.

He stood there for a minute, watching as the rental car go further and further until it eventually left his sight.

For some reason, Dream felt like he had lost something. An important part of him had left, that he could never get back. He brushed off the feeling though, not wanting to remember this moment as a sad one.

Dream turned around and went back inside, the house suffocatingly quiet without his friends there. He already missed their presence.

His phone buzzed, Dream pulling it out of his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Can we just come live with you- SAPNAP! I'm trying to talk to Dream!" George's tinny voice and Sapnap's laugh played over his speaker, making Dream chuckle.

"That'd be awesome," he responded, sitting down on the couch.

"Yessss- sApNAp! StOp!" 

"Sapnap, aren't you supposed to be driving?"

"He is, he's just annoying me! STOP WITH THE FEET OH MY GOD- I'll call you back Dream, I love you!"

The call ended with a click.

Dream blinked, his face heating up as he realised something.

"Did... Did he just say 'I love you'?"


	18. text back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspo song:  
> words by skylar grey
> 
> this is the final chapter. enjoy.

"Its getting late, I should probably log off," 

Dream watched as George yawned, resisting the urge to do the same.

"Aw, will you be back on tomorrow?" he asked, pouting. His boyfriend laughed, hiding part of his face with the sleeve of his hoodie that Dream had gotten him a few weeks before.

Dream blushed, glad that George couldn't see him. Even though they had basically lived together for a few weeks, Dream still refused to turn on his facecam when video calling George.

"Of course! Goodnight Dream, I love you," George grinned, made a heart shape with his hands, and then hung up.

Dream sighed, and leaned back in his chair. 

Ding!

He leaned back forwards, already knowing what the notification in his headphones meant.

As always, George had sent him three hearts. 

And, as always, Dream replied with a random meme from the folder on his desktop labelled "MemesNotFound". This time it was an old tumblr screenshot that Dream didn't bother reading before he shut down his PC.

Stretching as he stood up, Dream glanced over at his clock. It was about 1 am, which would explain why he was so sleepy.

Moving at the pace of a snail, Dream changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. He rolled over, pulling the huge plush of himself that George had jokingly gotten him close to his chest.

The adult tried to pretend it was his boyfriens in his arms instead of a stuffed animal, but the daydream was as flimsy as the fabric and stuffing absorbing his body heat.

Dream missed George. He missed Sapnap too, but that was a different kind of miss.

He just didn't feel complete without him there. It was like Dream was a puzzle and George was the final piece. They went together like milk and cookies on a cool summer afternoon.

Though, something Dream had to look forwards to was that when George saved up enough money he was going to come move in with Dream. It would take a while, seeing as George had to go through all the paperwork it takes to move to an entirely different country, and not to mention the cost of it all.

Dream had offered to pay for everything, but George had adamantly refused. He even went as far as to say that he would cancel it all if Dream spent even a dime on this.

Dream shook his head, a light chuckle escaping his lips. He buried his face into the soft fabric, a smile settling across his lips as he slipped into a deep slumber.

The gentle pattering of rain against his window awoke Dream. He yawned, shivering as a cool draft hit his stomach. He pulled his covers the rest of the way off of himself, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. 

Stretching, Dream sat up. The house was silent, a pang of loneliness striking his heart as he remembered how loud it was when George and Sapnap were there.

He walked over to his desk, where his phone was charging. When he turned it on, there were only a few notifications. He had to turn off most of them for all of his social medias because of his insane amount of tags, comments, likes etc. 

That would be normal, but something was off. Usually he would have at least one message from George, whether it be a random meme he saw on twitter or just him being cute.

Dream raised an eyebrow and unlocked his phone, going straight to his discord dms.

The last message George had sent him was still there, timestamped.

george:  
i love you💚

Dream smiled, feeling his stomach flutter as he read those three words that were so hard to get out of his boyfriend at first.

dreamwastaken:  
Good morning george💙

Nothing. Strange. Maybe George was still sleeping. Dream glanced at his status and saw that he was still offline, which made sense.

Dream set his phone aside, and went to go get ready. They had been planning on recording a manhunt later, which Dream was definitely looking forwards to.

Three hours later and still no response.

Dream was starting to get worried.

dreamwastaken:  
George wake up already  
I miss my scooter boy :(

What was even worse was that George still hadn't come online yet.

Dream pushed down the growing dread in his stomach, opting to check his Twitter and YouTube instead.

He scrolled through his mentions, stopping to like a few fanarts along the way. Dream squirmed in his chair, resisting the urge to check his phone every few seconds.

George was fine. Everything was fine.

Everything was not fine.

Clay's alarm he had set for the manhunt had gone off, with still no sign of George present.

dreamwastaken:  
sapnap  
sapnap  
sapnap

Sapnap:  
what

dreamwastaken:  
have you heard from George at all today?

Sapnap:  
no, why?

dreamwastaken:  
i haven't either  
i think something's wrong

Sapnap:   
idk, he's probably just sleeping or something  
🙂  
i wouldn't worry about it

dreamwastaken:  
ok thanks

Sapnap:  
yw  
wanna play on our survival world?

Dream kept Sapnap's words in mind, attempting to calm his nerves. He logged on, immediately greeting Beckerson since George wasn't there to do so.

2 hours

dreamwastaken:  
George  
George  
George

dreamwastaken:  
goodnight i love you💙

1 day

dreamwastaken:  
George did your power go out or smth  
oof

3 days

You missed a call from dreamwastaken that lasted 5 minutes!

You missed a call from dreamwastaken that lasted 2 minutes 10 seconds!

You missed a call from dreamwastaken that lasted 10 minutes 57 seconds!

dreamwastaken:  
George please just answer me  
please  
I'm sorry if I did something wrong

dreamwastaken:  
please I'm sorry I love you

1 week

dreamwastaken:  
text back  
please  
just text me back  
i don't care if its just "hi"  
i need to know you're alright  
george please

Two months passed with no sign from George. Everyone was worried to no end.

Their fans had noticed his disappearance within the first two weeks, causing Clay and Nick's socials to be spammed with questions about George.

Clay could barely get out of bed each morning, feeling sick with worry and fear for his boyfriend's health.

It wasn't like George to just up and disappear. 

It just wasn't.

Clay felt like he would never hear from George again, when all of a sudden his phone started ringing. Clay scrambled to grab it, reaching across the couch to the coffee table.

He almost cried when he saw the name of the caller.

"GEORGE! Oh my god, don't scare me like that!" His voice cracked as the tears finally flowed, a couple months worth of worry pouring out of him like water through a cracked dam, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Is this 'Clay Anderson', George Maidson's significant other?" 

that wasn't george

"Wh- Yes, why?" Clay felt his heart drop.

"I'm very sorry sir,"

No. No no no no no this isn't happening this isn't happening this isn't

"George Maidson passed away last night. He had been in an on and off coma for the past two months, due to a car accident that fractured his spinal chord. We tried our best to save him. His last request was that we call you and tell you that he loved yo-"

click.


End file.
